Margate Caves facts for kids

Margate in Kent, England, is home to two amazing underground places you can visit. One is the Shell Grotto, and the other is the Margate Caves. These caves are like a maze of decorated tunnels and rooms, dug by hand. People have been visiting them since the 1860s, making them a popular spot for over 160 years!

The Caves are located on Northdown Road in Cliftonville, which is just east of Margate's old town.

Exploring Margate Caves

The Margate Caves are made up of several tunnels and rooms. They are all dug by hand and connect to each other. These underground spaces are on two different levels.

Main Tunnels

The main tunnels are quite big. They are about 8 to 9 meters (26-30 feet) high. At the bottom, they are about 2.5 to 3 meters (8-10 feet) wide. At the end of the northern tunnel, there's a short path. This path leads to a deep well shaft. The well goes down over 13 meters (43 feet). It also goes up 8 meters (26 feet) to the ground surface. This part is now covered. This area also has a bricked-up old entrance.

Ice Wells and Decorations

In the two western tunnels, there are openings in the floor. These lead to two oval-shaped former ice wells. These wells were used to store ice. A small passage connects the two ice wells. Another short passage links them to the main caves. If you look up in the main east-west tunnel, you can see where the original diggers started.

Over about 200 years, the walls of the caves were decorated. You can see paintings of different animals and soldiers. There are also pictures of old kings and a giant. One painting shows a hunting scene.

Today, you enter the Caves through a long sloping path. This path starts from a modern visitor building.

Why Were the Caves Dug?

The Margate Caves were not originally for visitors. They were dug as a chalk mine. Workers dug out chalk to make lime. This was done in nearby lime kilns.

What Was Lime Used For?

Some of the chalk and lime was sold to local farmers. They used it as a fertiliser to help crops grow. But most of the lime was used to make mortar. Mortar is like a special glue. It holds bricks and stones together for building houses and other structures.

The way the caves are dug suggests they were made around the mid to late 1700s. This was when several important buildings were being built in Margate. These included a corn mill and two large houses.

How the Caves Were Found

The Caves are located under what used to be the garden of a big house. This house was built in the 1700s. It was first called Bryan House. It was named after Mrs Margaret Bryan. She was a schoolmistress and astronomer. She ran a school for young ladies there in the 1790s.

Around 1807, Francis Forster bought the house. He renamed it 'Northumberland House'. Soon after he moved in, the Caves were discovered. This happened around 1807-1808. You can still see his son's initials, 'CFF', and the date '1808' carved into the chalk.

History of Margate Caves

After the Caves were found, Francis Forster made a proper entrance. He added stairs leading down into the cave system. He used the Caves for his own fun. He even had an ice well dug. He also used some of the space to store wine.

Opening to the Public

After Forster died in 1835, his family didn't look after the Caves. Then, in 1863, a local shopkeeper named John Norwood rented them. He opened them to the public for the first time. He called them the Vortigern Caves. But after a few years, this business didn't work out. The site was neglected again.

Later, the western part of Northumberland House became a vicarage. This was for the nearby Holy Trinity Church. In the early 1900s, the vicar, Rev. Dr. Michael Prior, fixed up the Caves. He reopened them to the public. They became popular again in Margate. This led to more research into the Caves' history.

World War II and Reopening

In 1929, Rev. Dr. Prior passed away. Access to the Caves became limited again. During World War II, on September 21, 1941, the vicarage was badly damaged. It was hit by enemy bombs. The vicar at the time, Reverend James Brassey Cowell, said the Caves saved his life. He and his family sheltered there during the bombing.

After the war, the entrances to the Caves were blocked. The house was left in ruins until 1958. Then, James Geary Gardner became interested in the site. He owned other underground tourist sites. He got permission to reopen the Caves.

The entrances were cleared. A wooden ticket office was built. The Caves reopened to the public in May 1958.

Saving the Caves

Margate Council bought the site in 1962. Gardner stopped leasing it in the early 1990s. Over the next few decades, the visitor facilities were not well maintained. Because of safety worries, the Caves closed in 2004. By 2010, there was a big risk that the Caves would be lost forever. The local council wanted to build on the site.

The community strongly disagreed. A group called the Friends of Margate Caves was formed. Their goal was to save the Caves from being sealed up. In 2013, The Margate Caves Community Education Trust was created. This charity worked to get a long lease on the site. They also raised money to reopen the Caves.

They got enough money from places like the National Lottery. This allowed them to do repair work. The Caves were made safe for modern rules. A new building was designed as a visitor center. It has a ticket office, a café, and rooms for the community. There's also an interpretation room. This room tells the full story of the Caves.

The Caves officially reopened to the public on Thursday, August 22, 2019. More than 5,000 people visited in the first two weeks!

On June 11, 2020, Margate Caves won an award. It was the South East Region RICS Social Impact Award for heritage. The Caves have also been nominated for a Civic Trust Award.

The Margate Caves Community Education Trust manages and runs the Caves today. You can find the full history on their website: margatecaves.co.uk.

Myths and Legends of the Caves

Over the years, some stories about the Caves have become popular.

Smuggling Stories

In 1885, an advertisement called the Caves 'The Immense Smuggler's Caves'. It suggested they were used for smuggling. While it might have been possible, there is no real proof. No direct evidence shows the Caves were ever used to hide illegal goods. But this idea has been used a lot to entertain visitors over the years.

The Secret Tunnel

There's also a local legend about a hidden tunnel. People say it leads from the Caves to the Clifton Baths (The Lido) on the coast. A drawing of this supposed tunnel used to hang in the old ticket office for many years. However, no evidence of this tunnel has ever been found. Interestingly, a smuggler's tunnel leading to the coast was found nearby in Zion Place in 1832.