Lost Pot facts for kids

Lost Pot is a cave located on Leck Fell in Lancashire, England. It connects to the upper part of Lost Johns' Cave. This cave is part of the Three Counties System, which is a huge cave network. This system is about 87 kilometres (54 mi) long and stretches across the areas of Cumbria, Lancashire, and North Yorkshire.

Exploring Lost Pot

The main entrance to Lost Pot is found in a large, bowl-shaped hollow in the ground called a shakehole. This shakehole has 12-metre (39 ft) high cliffs around it and is fenced off. From the south-west corner of this hollow, a 9-metre (30 ft) deep shaft (a vertical tunnel) leads down into a chamber.

Inside this chamber, another shaft goes down for 8 metres (26 ft). This leads to a slope of loose rocks. Below this slope is a 30 metres (98 ft) deep vertical drop, known as a pitch. After this pitch, you enter a tall, narrow passage called a rift.

This rift passes under a high, chimney-like shaft called an aven, where another entrance called It's a Cracker joins. Water flows out through a passage here. At the end of the rift, a small passage leads to the top of a 23 metres (75 ft) pitch. This pitch drops into one of two large avens in the upper part of Lost Johns' Cave. The entrance to Lost Pot is currently sealed for safety.

It's a Cracker Entrance

It's a Cracker is a second entrance to this cave system. It is located in another shakehole about 50 metres (160 ft) south-west of Lost Pot. A 10-metre (33 ft) deep shaft, dug by explorers, leads into a small chamber.

From here, a tricky passage leads to the top of the 32-metre (105 ft) deep Paparazzi Pitch. After this, you reach a small waterfall. Below the waterfall is a platform that looks over the 36 metres (118 ft) Park Bench Pitch. This pitch drops into the large rift passage that is found below the first pitch of Lost Pot.

How the Cave Was Formed

Lost Pot is a type of cave called a solutional cave. This means it was formed by water dissolving the rock over a very long time. The cave is found in a type of rock called Great Scar limestone, which formed during the Carboniferous period.

The way the cave developed was greatly influenced by a vertical fault (a crack in the Earth's crust) and several large cracks called joints in the rock. The small streams that flow into the cave from the surface are the main source of water for the larger Lost Johns' Master Cave. This water eventually comes out at the Leck Beck Head spring.

The current exit for water at the bottom of Lost Pot is small. However, there are older, abandoned passages, called the Tate Galleries, about 10 metres (33 ft) above the current water level. Scientists believe the shafts in the cave formed before the last ice age (the Devensian glaciation) and were originally drained by these higher passages.

History of Discovery

Lost Pot was first mentioned by name in 1922. For many years, different caving clubs tried to find a way into the cave from the bottom of the shakehole. It wasn't until early 1982 that members of the Northern Pennine Club made a big effort. They dug a shaft through the rocks and finally reached the passages below.

The slope of loose rocks at the top of the first big pitch was very unstable. The explorers had to work hard to make it safe before they could go down. The cave was finally explored all the way to the bottom on February 18, 1982.

Just two days later, the same unstable rock slope collapsed while a group was at the bottom of the cave. This made the area very unsafe. After a challenging rescue by the Cave Rescue Organisation, the entrance to Lost Pot was sealed to prevent future accidents and ensure safety.

In 1995, another cave called Boxhead Pot was opened. This new entrance made it easier to reach the area of Lost Johns' Cave that connects to Lost Pot. A caver named Tim Allen used this new access to climb up the big aven in Lost Pot. He then climbed another aven above it, reaching a passage that ended 6 metres (20 ft) below a shakehole near Lost Pot. In 2012, a shaft was dug from the surface to open up this new entrance, which was named It's a Cracker.