Yordas Cave facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Yordas Cave |
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The main entrance to Yordas Cave
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| Location | Kingsdale, North Yorkshire, [UK] |
| OS grid | SD 7055 7909 |
| Length | 230 metres (750 ft) |
| Height variation | 43 metres (141 ft) |
| Elevation | 312 metres (1,024 ft) |
| Geology | Carboniferous limestone |
| Entrances | 5 |
| Difficulty | 2 (3 for Yordas Pot) |
| Access | No permission is required |
| Cave survey | 1980 Gritstone Club survey on Cavemaps |
Yordas Cave is a cool cave in Kingsdale, North Yorkshire, England. It's a type of cave called a solutional cave, which means it was formed by water dissolving rock over a very long time. People have known about this cave for hundreds of years. In the 1800s, it was even a "show cave," meaning it was set up for visitors to explore easily. Today, it's a popular spot for cavers (people who explore caves), hikers, and outdoor adventure groups.
Exploring Yordas Cave
The main entrance to Yordas Cave is tucked away in some trees. You'll find it at the bottom of a small cliff, in a little valley. To get inside, you go down three steps through an archway.
Inside the Main Chamber
Once you're inside, you enter the Main Chamber. This huge room is about 55 metres (180 ft) long and 15 metres (49 ft) wide. A small stream flows across the floor of the chamber. This stream then disappears into some low passages on the left side.
Other Passages and Entrances
Also on the left, there's a low passage you can follow for a few meters. This leads to another way out, called the Back Door entrance. This exit is in a shakehole, which is a bowl-shaped dip in the ground.
At the far end of the Main Chamber, the stream flows into a place called the Chapter House. Here, a 9-metre (30 ft) waterfall crashes down! This is where the old show cave tour used to end.
Above the waterfall, a passage continues. The water comes from a low, 20-metre (66 ft) long passage. This passage leads to the bottom of Yordas Pot. Yordas Pot is another way into the cave, but it's a 24-metre (79 ft) deep shaft (a vertical drop). The water enters the cave from a crack in the rock just below the top of this shaft.
Advanced Exploration Routes
If you turn right at the junction above the waterfall, you can climb up to two other entrances. These are located higher up in the gorge. These vertical shafts have special equipment called "hangers." These allow cavers to go up and down using single rope techniques (SRT). This is a way of moving on a single rope using special gear.
Some people also use canyoning-style techniques to go down the route from the gorge to the bottom entrance. This involves moving through canyons, often using ropes to descend waterfalls or steep sections. The last person down a section can even pull the rope down after them.
What's in a Name?
The name Yordas is thought to come from an old language called Old Norse. It might mean 'earth stream'.
However, there's also a fun story about how the cave got its name. Around 1780, a local guide told a visitor named John Hutton that a giant named Yordas used to live in the cave. This story probably made people think the cave was named after the giant.
How the Cave Was Formed
Yordas Cave is a solutional cave. This means it was formed in limestone rock, which is a type of rock that water can slowly dissolve. The rock here is called Lower Carboniferous limestone, and it's very old!
Water's Journey Underground
Normally, a stream called Yordas Beck disappears into the ground at the top of the gorge. It then reappears from a passage near the top of Yordas Pot. From the bottom of Yordas Pot, the water flows down to the Chapter House waterfall. After that, it vanishes into narrow passages at the end of the Main Chamber.
When there's a lot of rain, the Main Chamber can fill up with water, sometimes as deep as 2 metres (6 ft 7 in)! Eventually, the water flows out through the main show cave entrance. The underground stream from Yordas Cave eventually joins another cave system called Kingsdale Master Cave. It then comes out of the ground at a place called Keld Head, about 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi) away down the valley.
Ancient History of the Cave
The Main Chamber of Yordas Cave is incredibly old, hundreds of thousands of years old! It was formed when it was completely filled with water, dissolving the rock. This happened before the Kingsdale valley even existed and allowed the water to drain away. The chamber's square shape is because pieces of rock have fallen from the ceiling and walls over time. You can still see marks on the walls where the cave floor used to be at different times. This shows that the cave went through periods of filling up with sediment and then being cleared out again during the ice ages.
A Look Back in Time
Yordas Cave has a long and interesting history.
Early Discoveries and Visitors
The cave was first described in detail in 1751 by Richard Pococke, who called it "a very grand high cave." But local people probably knew about it much earlier. Some old writings on the cave walls date back to 1653!
In 1771, Yordas Cave appeared on a map by Thomas Jefferys. Then, in 1780, John Hutton wrote about it in a guide book. He described how he had to get a guide, candles, and a tinderbox from a nearby farmhouse to explore the cave. He also saw writings on the walls that were "above two hundred years old." By this time, all the main features in the cave already had the names we use today.
Hutton's guide also shared a sad story. About 50 years before his visit, a pregnant woman traveling alone went into labor and sadly passed away in the cave.
Becoming a Popular Spot
After Hutton's book, Yordas Cave became a popular place for people who loved beautiful scenery. It was mentioned in many guide books and magazines. Even famous people visited! William Wordsworth, a well-known poet, came to the cave in 1800. He later wrote about it in his poem The Prelude. J. M. W. Turner, a famous artist, sketched the cave's outside and inside in 1816.
Changes and New Discoveries
In July 1817, a huge flood filled much of the Main Chamber with mud and rocks. The guide at the time worked hard to clear some of it, but the chamber lost some of its original height. In 1818, William Westall created a book of drawings of Yorkshire, which included three pictures of Yordas Cave.
It was still a show cave around 1890. Visitors had to go to a farmhouse called Braida Garth, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) away, to get a key and a guide. It cost two shillings to enter.
The first time someone explored the cave all the way through, from the entrance in the upper gorge, was in 1925. This was done by a group called the Yorkshire Ramblers' Club. One of the people with them was Laurence Geoghegan, who later used his cave exploring experiences to write a novel called The Subterranean Club.
The Back Door Entrance was opened up by another group, the Northern Cavern and Fell Club, in August 1932. They called it Scotsman's Entrance back then. The Yordas Pot entrance appeared after a big storm in December 1963. A tree covering the shaft was blown over, revealing the opening. Cavers explored it the following February.
