Peak Cavern

Peak Cavern lies in Castleton, Derbyshire, beside the stream Peakshole Water. Its vast mouth is the largest natural cave entrance in Britain. Unlike the other show caves nearby, almost the whole system remains natural. Only a short tunnel was widened by blasting so visitors could pass without lying in a boat. Until 1915 families lived in houses built inside the entrance, making rope to sell. Legends say thieves’ cant, their secret language, was invented here by Cock Lorel and Giles Hather. The cave is worth visiting for its scale and stories. It contains the biggest cave entrance in the country and the longest system in the Peak District. Parts once flooded regularly, forcing guides to clear debris every spring. In the 1980s radon gas was found in the lower passages, leading to closure of the Five Arches section in 1989. That same year the BBC filmed The Chronicles of Narnia in the cavern. Later explorers discovered Titan Shaft, Britain’s deepest vertical drop at 141.5 metres. Visitors walk from the entrance along Lumbago Walk, stooping in places. The route passes two main caverns, The Great Cave and Roger Rain’s House, then reaches Pluto’s Dining Room, the present turning point. Beyond lies the old tourist route with its wooden bridges over the Inner Styx stream. Above, Cave Dale offers a dramatic cliff-top view down to the cavern mouth. The cave also hosts concerts and film screenings, turning its echoes into stages.