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King Arthur's Cave

Cave / Rock Shelter

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An outing to the caves recorded in the Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club (1874-6), along with discussion of the animal remains found there.

There's trouble with both the upper classes and the riff raff:

The author had previously told "a British lady that we had found the remains of [a lion], with the remains of elephants and rhinoceroses. She smiled contemptuously, and said, "Well, Mr. Symonds, you may believe it, but I don't; not a word of it."

A number of daytrippers went to the lower caves, "and some even looked into that which is occupied by a notorious person known as "Jem, the Slipper," whose boast it is that he has lived in the cave for thirty years, and has not washed himself for that period. Most of the company, however, preferred to return to Whitchurch by other routes." I love that understated Victorian humour :)

A little further, on page 28 there is a somewhat tall story about a huge human skeleton allegedly found in the cave c. 1700. Gibson supposedly mentioned the giant in his 3rd edition of Camden's Britannia.

There is also mention of a tradition current in 1799 that 'King Arthur's Hall extends underground from thence to New Wear, a distance of more than a mile'. But Mr Edmunds, the article's author, remains unconvinced.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
12th March 2013ce
Edited 12th March 2013ce

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