Ingleborough Cave facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ingleborough Cave |
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Ingleborough Cave entrance
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| Location | Ingleborough, North Yorkshire, UK |
| Length | 4,200 metres (13,800 ft) |
| Discovery | 1837 |
| Geology | Carboniferous limestone |
| Entrances | 4 (excluding Gaping Gill) |
| List of entrances |
Ingleborough Cave, Beck Head Cave, Beck Head Stream Cave, Fox Holes |
| Difficulty | Grade 4 |
| Hazards | Flooding (beyond show cave) |
| Access | £9 when open. Trips beyond show cave by agreement with management |
| Cave survey | cavemaps.org |
Ingleborough Cave (formerly known as Clapham Caves) is a famous show cave located near the village of Clapham in North Yorkshire, England. It's a fascinating underground world where you can explore ancient passages. This cave is especially interesting because it's connected to Gaping Gill, a massive underground shaft where water disappears into the earth.
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Discovering Ingleborough Cave
Ingleborough Cave was first discovered in 1837. Since then, it has become a popular spot for visitors. It's a great example of a cave formed in Carboniferous limestone, a type of rock that dissolves easily in water. This process creates the amazing tunnels and chambers you see inside.
Exploring the Show Cave
The part of Ingleborough Cave that is open to the public is called the "show cave." It follows an old, dry passage known as a fossil gallery. This means water no longer flows through this section. The public path stretches for about 500 meters (or 1,640 feet).
As you walk through the show cave, you'll notice how wide and open the passages are. The cave is beautifully decorated with natural rock formations. These include stalagmites, which are mineral deposits that grow upwards from the cave floor. They are formed by water dripping from the ceiling over thousands of years.
Beyond the Public Path
While the show cave is impressive, the cave system continues much further. Beyond the public area, the fossil gallery eventually meets a main underground stream. This stream is part of a larger network of passages.
Brave cave explorers and divers have followed this water upstream. They've discovered that it leads to a place called Terminal Lake. This lake is connected by divers to Gaping Gill, showing how water from the surface can travel deep underground. The stream also flows downstream into Lake Pluto, which is connected to another cave called Beck Head Stream Cave.
Another connection has been found with Fox Holes, which is another cave located near Trow Gill. These connections show how complex and vast the underground world beneath Ingleborough truly is.
How Water Flows Through the Cave
Inside the show cave, there's a small stream that drops into a deep crack called the Abyss. This is where the water disappears further into the cave system.
Divers have explored the passages at the bottom of the Abyss. They found an underwater connection to Beck Head Cave. Beck Head Cave is where the water from Gaping Gill finally comes back to the surface. This means that water from the surface, after flowing through Gaping Gill and the Ingleborough Cave system, eventually reappears at Beck Head. It's like a natural underground plumbing system!
