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The 'Lost Cave' was discovered in 1757. William Glisson discovered it when he was digging for ochre. He was from Bristol, and had settled in Loxton, living at a house called 'Rushcroft'. He broke into a small opening and found a small cavern out of which a gust of 'noxious' air issued. In 1763 the infamous Rev. Dr. Catcott(1) first described the cave:-
The first main cave was oval, eight feet high and thirty yards in circumference. The roof of the cavern was covered with a multitude of stalactites that were hanging like icicles and tinged with a cast of red. At the bottom of the cavern was a hole which led to a large dark cave 30 yards deep and ten across, and covered with white spar and green veins of copper ore running from the top to the bottom of the rock. Further down there were two openings. The Western cavity was entered through an arch adorned with stalactites of different sizes and colours. The cavity was shaped like a tunnel decreasing in size. At the beginning it was 8 feet wide, 5 feet broad and 36 yards long but was it was impossible to go down it. There was a deep and narrow perpendicular fissure running through the bottom of the cavity, covered with sparry incrustations that in several places were so tightly packed that they resembled cauliflowers in size and shape. In the roof of this cavity was a long narrow opening, leading into another cave, which ran parallel over the previous cave and was a similar size and shape. The stalactites in this cave were red in colour.
Dr. Catcott must have spent a considerable time in the caves, where he discovered the bones of exotic animals. He drew specimens of stalactites and stalagmites and took samples away to be sawn in half and polished.
In 1794, it was explored again by C.I Harford, another caver, who wrote an account in the "Gentleman's Magazine", and called himself C.I.H. He stated that the cave entrance was on the side of a steep bush covered hill, with brambles over the entrance. A local farmer who had never been down the cave accompanied him, and their guide was the son of William Glisson. The large dark cave did not impress C.I.H. and he wrote that it appeared to be bottomless, and thought that he would not be able to go any further, but he carried on and the group lit their candles to explore the rest of the cave system. The limestone rock was too hard for him to collect any specimens and it had been defaced by Cornish miners prospecting for copper. The group spent over two hours in the cave and emerged, bruised and battered, the consequence of wriggling through narrow openings like snakes. They ate a large quantity of bread and drank two quarts of ale to quench their thirst. Both the farmer and C.I.H. vowed never to visit the cave again.
The cave seemed to have disappeared without trace and its whereabouts were unknown for over 200 years. There were two theories to account for its disappearance. The first was that it was filled in, and the second, condidered a more likely explanation, was that it was quarried away by the miners who were prospecting for copper in the area.
Recently, two explorers both members of the Bristol Exploration Club unearthed the lost cave after a long search lasting about 3 years. Clues found in old literature suggested one or two possible areas, so a dig was carried out and the cave was found within a few feet of the topsoil. It seems that the cave had been filled in with stones to prevent children and livestock from falling in. Photographs taken during 2004 inside the cave can be found at the following reference(2).
Notes:
1. Dr. Alexander Catcott, (Vicar of Temple Church Bristol), published a book called "A Treatise on the Deluge". He believed that he had found evidence to support the Biblical flood and that animals such as elephant, lion, rhinoceros and hyæna were washed away from Africa by the waters of the Great Flood and deposited in caves in England, as the waters subsided. He developed theories on geology, including cave formation and suggested the theory that caves were formed by the action of water returning to the abyss from the Great Flood. He suggested that stalactites were the vapours from the abyss condensing in the walls.
2. Web site showing photographs inside the cave.
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