Chislehurst Caves
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Chislehurst Caves are a series of 22 miles of tunnels in Chislehurst, in the south eastern suburbs of Greater London. Although called caves they are actually chalk and flint mine workings.
The earliest mention of the mines is circa 1250 and they are last believed to have been worked in the 1830s. In the First World War they were used as a ammunition depot connected to Woolwich Arsenal. Between the wars they were used for mushroom cultivation and in World War 2 they were used as an air raid shelter with electric lighting, a chapel and a hospital. Between the autumn of 1940 and the spring of 1941, the caves sheltered 8000 people every night.
In the 1960s, the caves were used a music venue. Status Quo, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd all performed there. More recently, some of the tunnels have been used for live action role-playing games.
They was featured on the television programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of the London area, in an episode presented by Bill Oddie.
Mythology
In 1903 William Nichols, then Vice President of the British Archeological Association, produced a theory that the mines were made by the Druids, Romans and Saxons. This theory was used to give names to the three parts of the caves. Today on guided tours visitors have Druid altars pointed out to them and comments about Roman features. However this can at best be speculation as the earliest evidence for mining is 1250 AD.
However these stories proved attractive to tourists and the increase in tourists led to the mines being used as a music venue.
External link
- Chislehurst Caves from the heritage trail (http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/early%20ages/chislehurst%20caves.htm)
- Official web site (http://www.chislehurstcaves.co.uk/)