I CERTAINLY expected Creswell Crags to be pretty. But the big surprise is that this beauty spot on the Derbyshire-Nottinghamshire border is also pretty important.
Once upon a time, this spot was essentially the edge of the world.
Near Worksop, Creswell Crags is a limestone gorge. The chunky, bumpy walls rise up either side of Millbrook, looking like they’ve been made from grey Lego bricks.
They’re honeycombed by a series of caves. And what has been found inside them is pretty extraordinary.
Before arriving at the gorge itself, the Creswell Crags visitor centre explains a rich history.
This begins around 120,000 years ago, when temperatures here were a lot warmer. Back then, rhinos and hippos wandered here.
We know this because a narrow-nosed rhinoceros jaw, plus a hippo jaw and tusk, are on display in the museum section. All of the bones and fossils on display have been found in the caves.
These include a wolf’s leg bone, and arctic fox’s jaw and hyena droppings filled with the bones of other animals.
The animal bones aren’t the only record of the past in these caves, though. Rock art, made with stones tools and painted with yellow, orange, red and purple ochres, also tells a story.
Several engravings from the Ice Age have been found within Creswell Crags. Dating techniques show the flowstone that has grown over some of the art to be around 12,800 years old, meaning it has been there for longer.
Many of the engravings show the animals that lived here at the time, such as woolly mammoths and cave lions.
This is believed to be the furthest north Ice Age cave art found in Europe. There is evidence people may have ventured into what is now Yorkshire, but the existence of cave art shows Creswell Crags was liveable.
For the people who sheltered in these caves, this was the end of the earth, with a carpet of ice to the north.
There are two ways to visit. The first is on your own, taking in the museum section then taking a pleasant stroll along the gorge.
In the meadow on the way, there are wooden carvings of the animals that have been discovered in the caves.
To go inside the caves, however, you need to take a tour. Most of the rock art is inside Church Hole, where tours run between April and October. Tours to Robin Hood Cave, however, run year-round.
This is the biggest of the 24 caves at Creswell Crags, and the one with the most varied story to tell. It’s a dry cave, with no flowing water, which made it a good shelter.
The first people who stayed here 13,000 to 50,000 years ago, and the Neanderthals before them, didn’t go far into the cave.
This was partly practical – they didn’t have the head torches we have now. But it was mainly about what did venture further inside.
A bear skeleton has been in the inner chambers, as well as evidence lions liked to hang out there, too.
Treasure chest
The guide shows how the people who called the cave home would have made tools. Hammers were made out of deer antlers, and sinews from animals were used to tie things together.
Flint has been found in the cave. It is sharper than modern hospital instruments, and would have been used for cutting. Interestingly, however, it doesn’t naturally occur in this limestone.
The best explanation is that it is from the chalk belt running through East Anglia, and the people of Creswell Crags either brought it with them or traded for it.
Robin Hood Cave was largely excavated in the 19th century, when it was an archaeological treasure chest.
But there’s still plenty more to be found. The guide points to fragments of bone in the cave wall that have been left in place.
There’s also a mysterious triangle shape engraved on the wall of Robin Hood Cave. The gorgeous gorge outside may have inspired many paintings, but this triangle is part of Britain’s oldest art collection.
One thing is for sure. These are more than just caves – they are windows into the past.
GO: CRESSWELL CRAGS
STAYING THERE: The 4H Wildes Inns is a three-mile drive from Creswell Crags. Rooms from £69 per night. See wildesinns.co.uk.
OUT & ABOUT: Entrance to Creswell Crags costs £3 for adults, with children getting in free.
The Life in the Ice Age tour to Robin Hood Cave costs £15 for adults and £10 for children. See creswell-crags.org.uk.
