Where is Tilly Whim Caves?

Tilly Whim Caves is in South-East England, United Kingdom (postcode BH19 2JN), in the parish of Swanage.

How do I get to Tilly Whim Caves?

The nearest railway station is Swanage, about 1.9 km away. Drivers can use postcode BH19 2JN.

Is Tilly Whim Caves a protected site?

Yes — Tilly Whim Caves is part of the South Dorset Coast SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest and the DURLSTON National Nature Reserve.

Is Tilly Whim Caves free to visit?

Yes, Tilly Whim Caves is free to enter.

How do I get to Tilly Whim Caves?

The nearest railway station is Swanage, about 1.9 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode BH19 2JN.

Caves · South West England

Tilly Whim Caves

In or near Langton Matravers.

Free admission★ 4.5 · 10 Google reviews

Tilly Whim Caves is a cave in the United Kingdom.

Tilly Whim Caves, caves in South West England — Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit: 45 min–1.5 h
Nearest railway station: Swanage · 1.9 km

Free entry
Dog-friendly

Getting there & planning your visit

To visit Tilly Whim Caves, the nearest railway station is Swanage, located 1.9 km away. Entry is free, and the postcode for sat-nav is BH19 2JN.

Directions on Google Maps →

Tilly Whim Caves is a named cave entrance in South-East England. The site is within the Dorset National Landscape (AONB), and is part of the DURLSTON National Nature Reserve. It sits within the South Dorset parliamentary constituency. The nearest railway station is Swanage, about 1.9 km away. Postcode area BH19.

Photo gallery

See it from the streetimagery from 2020

Imagery © Mapillary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0

Protected designations

Site of Special Scientific Interest: South Dorset Coast SSSI
National Nature Reserve: DURLSTON
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Dorset

Designations sourced from Natural England open data under OGL v3.

From the Wikipedia article

Tilly Whim Caves consists of three stone quarries in Durlston Country Park, 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Swanage, on the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorset, southern England. The Tilly Whim Caves are a part of the Jurassic Coast. The name "Tilly Whim" may have been derived from a former quarryman, George Tilly, and the type of primitive wooden crane used at the time, known as a "whim", also called a derrick or gibbet. However, Tilly Whim lies at the southern end of the Manor of Eightholds and there is a common field called Tilly Mead at the northern end of the estate.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

Tilly Whim Caves were limestone quarries that were worked predominantly during the eighteenth century. Purbeck Stone, a valuable type of limestone, was extracted from the Tilly Whim caves. Using only metal punches, wedges and hammers to split the rock into workable blocks, the quarrymen mined the stone horizontally out of the cliff face. The quarrymen were also skilled stonemasons. They worked most of the stone within the quarry, either to building blocks or into finished items, for example as troughs or sinks. Using a "whim", a special type of wooden crane, the finished stonework was lowered from the quarry ledges to the boats below. The boats either shipped the stone directly to the stone…

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates: 50.5927, -1.9569
District: Dorset
Parish: Swanage
Postcode: BH19 2JN
Parliamentary constituency: South Dorset
Nearest railway station: Swanage — 1.9 km

Sources

osm: n2522443314 (ODbL)
wikipedia: Tilly Whim Caves (CC BY-SA 4.0)
commons: Tilly whim caves dorset02.jpg (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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