Yordas Cave

Yordas Cave was first described in detail by Richard Pococke who undertook a tour of Yorkshire in 1751, describing it as "a very grand high cave", although it must have been well known to locals before then as on a visit around 1900 William Palmer noted inscriptions on the wall dating back to 1653. It is marked on Thomas Jefferys 1771 map of Yorkshire, and it was drawn to the public's attention in 1780 by John Hutton in an appendix to Thomas West's "A Guide to the Lakes". He described stopping at Thornton at the bottom of the dale "to procure a guide, candle, tinderbox etc", and he also noted inscriptions "above two hundred years old". By this time the features in the cave had all already…

The old show cave entrance is in a plantation of trees 100 m from the road, at the base of a small cliff, at the bottom of a small gorge. A flight of three steps descend from the entrance archway into the Main Chamber, 55 m long, and 15 m wide. A stream flows across the floor, and disappears into some low passages to the left. Also on the left, a low passage can be followed for a few metres to the Back Door entrance in a shakehole. At the upstream end of the chamber two passages soon unite in the spray-lashed Chapter House chamber, where a 9 m waterfall enters and the showcave ended. Above the waterfall, a passage leads to a junction, with the water flowing from a low 20 m long passage…