Gloucestershire

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Where am I? DCC > CAVING AND MINING > MINES > PLACES > GLOUCESTERSHIRE

CAVES AND MINES IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE

The Club has actively explored in a number of caves and mining sites in Gloucestershire, mostly in the Forest of Dean. The table below shows just some of these sites.

IRON MINES	Old Ham Mine, Wigpool Mine, Noxon Park, China Engine Mine Clearwell caves (show), Old Bow Mine, Easter Mine, New Dunn Mine
CAVES	Otter Hole, Wet Sink Miss Graces Lane, Symonds Yat
COAL MINES	Monument Pit Hopewell Colliery
STONE MINES	Cotswolds Bixslade

Gloucestershire can probably be divided conveniently into two parts: west of the Severn and east of the Severn. West of the River Severn is dominated by The Forest of Dean and is a basin of limestone with coal measures overlying the centre of the basin. (This is the reverse of Derbyshire where the limestone is a dome in the centre and the coal measures form a ring around the outside.) This structure has led to the features of the Forest of Dean that attract the caver and miner. Click on the context-sensitive areas of the map for more detail. East of the River Severn is a narrow strip of flattish land before the escarpment of the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds are of oolitic limestone and provide a source of good building stone which stretches down into Wiltshire.

Geological map of the Forest of Dean	View over the Forest from New Fancy Colliery tip
	Entrance to Wet Sink
	Worcester Quarry

IRON MINES

The iron mines are shown on the map alongside which is taken from the Geological Survey Report of 1927. The mines are located in limestone and are found around the outcrop but this includes the eastern outcrop and the Wigpool outlier to the north. The levels shown in the south west corner of the map were driven from the lower ground to undercut the iron deposits. The iron is believed to have originated in the coal measures and then moved down and replaced limestone in what are very cave-like masses. Indeed, some of the mines, such as Westbury Brook show signs of having been open caves which were later filled with iron ore.


Lambsquay Mine in one of the larger sections	Firesetting in Lambsquay Mine	Old Ham near the entrance	An ochre deposit in Old Ham

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LIMESTONE CAVES

Until recently, the prospects for large systems seemed poor but in the last twenty years or so, the idea that the FOD was worked out was proved very wrong with the finding of Otter Hole (actually in Wales) and then the Wet Sink system. More recently, cavers dug down into Miss Grace's Lane Cave, largely developed on a single level. Another recent dig is Redhouse Swallet near English Bicknor which, like most Forest caves, has required a huge amount of engineering work to enter it. Caves are not only found in the 'natural' state because a number of the iron mines show strong evidence of being formed from iron infilled caves. If you go down Lambsquay or Wigpool, you are as likely to be following a natural passage as a mined passage.

The main caving area in Gloucestershire is around English Bicknor and Symonds Yat although caves are also found further south on the western outcrop of the limestone. Otter Hole is actually in Wales.


The entrances to the Symonds Yat caves	Inside one of the Symonds Yat caves which are generally crawly and dry	Wet Sink near English Bicknor (picture by Paul Taylor)	Redhouse Swallet near English Bicknor (picture by Paul Taylor)

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COAL MINES

The coal mining area is in the centre of the basin. The coal field was never rich although a couple of significant deep mines were sunk in the later phase of mining. Most of the mining was however carried out from shallow drifts which are still to be found all around the forest. Some of these are still mined by Free Miners of the Forest of Dean, an ancient custom and right which is constantly under threat these days. Unusually, the coal mines are relatively gas free and the miners even used carbide lights until quite recently.

There is a small mining museum at Hopewell Pit near Coleford which can be visited on underground trips.


At the entrance to Monument Pit	On the second level of Monument Pit	The coal cutter on the inclined face	Hopewell Colliery, a show mine

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STONE MINES

There are even stone mines in the forest. The sandstone is still worked in quarries such as Worcester Quarry and turned into dimension stone at a saw mill nearby . At the quarries, the stone was worked underground by classic techniques leaving large rectangular caverns.

Stone mines also abound in the Cotswolds from Cheltenham down to Nailsworth. This stone was usually freestone which could be used for building (e.g. Cheltenham) but some was converted into roofing slates if it was slabby material.


Worcester Quarry at Bixslade	Whittington Quarry outside Cheltenham	Lower Balls Green near Nailsworth with a large roof fall	The workshop area at the end of Lower Balls Green Quarry

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VISITING

The DCC used to have regular trips to the Forest, mostly at Easter. Like many other things, these have lapsed, not least because access to the Old Ham / New Dunn complex is not as free as it used to be. (The main shaft in New Dunn became polluted with a black, oily tar which led to that mine's closure to normal visitors. Recent work with a biological attack on the tar is considered hopeful.) Wet Sink is accessible by prior arrangement and Otter Hole can be visited with leaders. There had been concern at Otter Hole due to pollution but this turns out to be natural and no longer prevents trips, provided simple precautions are taken. The resident caving clubs are the Royal Forest of Dean Caving Club, the Gloucester Speleological Society and the Hades Caving Club. All of these are active and very friendly. Finally, you can have 'clean trip' by visiting the iron mine at Clearwell (called Clearwell 'Caves') and there may be a coal mine open to visits now. Nigel Dibben still has a number of contacts in the area so if anyone is interested, give him a call.

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USEFUL LINKS

Some links to Forest of Dean sites:

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