Chislehurst Caves - History beneath our feet

 Chislehurst Caves - History beneath our feet

It's not just an experience of walking for miles deep underground. Chislehurst caves provide a living insight into the war years - a rich historical resource. Terry Hunt explains why we should visit it. 

Brief History

The Chislehurst Caves, were first opened to the public around 1902/3 when the landlord of the Bickley Arms, in whose grounds the entrance lay, installed coloured electric ‘glow lamps’ in what later became known as the Saxon Caves and charged a small admission fee. The caves are now a major tourist venue attracting over 50,000 visitors a year and are located at the bottom of Old Hill, Chislehurst, a short walk from Chislehurst Station.

The Caves consist of several miles of interconnected man made chalk tunnels varying between 40ft and 95ft below ground depending how far under the hill you are.  In 1903, a rather eccentric antiquarian, Dr William Nicholls, published the first of two papers on the caves in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association. He declared that one set of caves had been dug by the Saxons, another by the Romans and that the third set had been excavated by the ‘Ancient British’ who used a section as an underground Druid’s Temple. The three sets of caverns that make up the Caves are now known as the ‘Saxon’, ‘Roman’ and ‘Druid’ caves respectively.

In the First World War, the outer or ‘Saxon’ series was taken over by Woolwich Arsenal to store high explosives. A narrow gauge railway was installed so that the boxes of TNT and Picric Acid could be taken underground by small trains pulled by battery powered electric locomotives.

Between the Wars the caves were used for mushroom growing and they are, in fact, still owned by Kent Mushrooms Ltd.  In the Second World War the caves were a safe refuge from Hitler’s bombing campaign and they became one of the largest underground air-raid shelters in the country with over 14,000 people a night sheltering from the blitz. With the coming of the V weapons in 1944 numbers increased to over 15,000. Some families whose homes had been destroyed actually lived in the caves and only came out to go to work or take the children to school.

The caves became a veritable underground town with its own cinema, chapel, canteens, washrooms, gymnasium etc. It had a well equipped Medical Aid Post, known to everyone as the ‘hospital’, which was staffed by the local Red Cross detachment. In April 1941 a baby girl was born in the hospital and the proud parents named the poor girl ‘Cavina’.

The shelter was very well organised by the ‘caves committee’ and a system of volunteer ‘cave captains’ or shelter wardens looked after the nightly refugees. One captain looked after a section of cave containing 60-100 shelterers. The caves were very effective as a bomb shelter with over 100ft of cover in the middle or ‘Druid’ section. On at least two occasions stray bombs landed in the woods above and, apart from the electric lights dimming for a brief second, no one underground noticed.

Since the war the Caves have been used by many TV and film companies for location shots and an entire film, Inseminoid, was shot in the Caves. Other productions using the caves include ‘Merlin’ and Dr Who.

 

An Underground Learning Resource

Most young people visiting the caves on a public tour find it an exciting experience (note: under 16s must be accompanied by a responsible adult). The combination of the guide’s explanation of the various underground exhibits, the light from the flickering oil lamps and walking for what seems like miles deep underground makes for a great experience.

One young girl of about 10 confided in the guide after the tour that: ‘I thought that I might be a bit scared at first but it was brilliant and I want to come again’

The Caves also offer special private tours for school groups. These must be booked in advance and, although they will last the same time as a public tour, the group will have a guide to themselves and so the visit can be customised for the group’s interest i.e.: history, geology etc. One very popular such trip is the ‘World War 2’ tours for schools. On this tour, the children are taken into the Caves using the same route as used by those sheltering in 1940-45. They are taken off the normal tourist route to see the wartime washrooms, cinema and some carvings done by those spending the night underground.

Unlike an exhibition in a museum or photographs in a book, in the Caves the children are walking through the actual shelter and can see the bunk numbers on the walls and stand by the canteens were hundreds of people would queue for their mugs of tea and sandwiches. The tales of the overflowing wartime chemical toilets fascinate modern children with comments such as ‘That must have been sooo gross!’

The Caves are open seven days a week during school holidays but closed Monday and Tuesday during school term. The first tour goes in at 10am and is then hourly until the last tour at 4.00pm. To book or enquire about a private tour contact the Caves on:

020 8467 3264, or e-mail the Manager, Terry Hunt at: terry@chislehurstcaves.co.uk