Excalibur Pot

Location


Grid Reference: |Kirkbymoorside;54.269453;-0.931219|Car%20parking;54.280195;-0.909092&scale=14&centre=54.274646;-0.921831 SE 7105 8780 (shown incorrectly as SE 47105 48780 on survey)

Length: 1.6 km Depth 30 m Altitude: 70 m

Summary
The first, and currently only, major cave in the North York Moors.

Short pitches (8 m, 5 m) drop to a large chamber, followed by an extensive inlet series, and a large main streamway (access by a 4m pitch). Several areas have admirable formations, far more elaborate than anything else found on the North Yorkshire Moors. The length is currently approximately 1.6 km with more passage suspected to exist.

Access
As the cave lies on a private estate, a CNCC permit system is in operation. Contact [mailto:REMOVE-THIS-BITspeleomatt@hotmail.co.uk Matt Ewles] for details on access conditions and how to request a permit, or see details on the CNCC website. If you have a particular interest in the cave (particularly from a geological or scientific point of view) and would like a tour round then [mailto:REMOVE-THIS-BITspeleomatt@hotmail.co.uk contact Matt by e-mail]. Due to the delicate nature of the cave (both the formations and the loose rocks) it is requested that novice cavers not be taken down Excalibur Pot.

Please note that the other minor caves in the area (Lingmoor Cave and Dowson’s Pot) also require similar permission – contact as for Excalibur.

Jenga Pot is not covered by any access agreement at present, and is on differently owned land to Excalibur, so there is strictly no general access at present.

History


The North Yorkshire Moors Caving Club (formally Scarborough Caving Club) digs of the late 90’s were not successful in breaking through into Excalibur, despite coming only metres from the top of the entrance pitch! Unfortunately for them the weather was poor and frequent flooding of the beck filled in their digs, lowering morale until eventually the project was abandoned.

Almost ten years on, in summer 2006, we (Matt Ewles and Gary Douthwaite of York CC and York University CPC) were on a day out to examine some of the local caves. While we were parked up near Bogg Hall Cave, our car full of caving gear was spotted by Richard Wilsdon, one of the original explorers of Bogg Hall. He introduced us to the area over tea and cake and showed us the former dig sites, gradually building up our enthusiasm for reviving the digging at Hutton Beck. The following summer after arranging permission with the landowner we turned up ready to dig! We chose the same sinkhole that the Scarborough guys had previously dug at and we quickly set to work. By the end of the first weekend a deep and wide pit had been dug out of the dry stream bed with the help of an A-frame. However no sooner had we left for the weekend, Hutton Beck flooded and the dig was completely filled in with debris. We returned the following weekend, somewhat disappointed but not demoralised, to find the water was receding and the Beck was terminating as a gentle flow entering the dig site. With flood defence in mind we commenced a dig initially horizontally into the hillside, following the route of sinking water, and then downwards. By the end of this weekend a significant pit had been dug which was easier to defend from flood.

Hutton Beck thankfully remained dry and the next weekend we were joined by Richard, and other Scarborough members Andy Brennan and Chalky Thomas, interested to see what progress we had made. With their help and experience we continued downwards until a small chink of drafting blackness was found. After enlarging this we were able to drop into a small cavity in the boulders. After two days of removing blocks the cavity became almost spacious, and a way onwards through a tiny slot was identified. This was enlarged to gain access to body sized chamber, and then a week later while digging here a block was removed to reveal another slot into a slightly larger cavity. Entering here however was only for the very thin, and was a scary experience as loose material crumbled down all around! However, while digging in the mud floor of this chamber, cobbles were heard to fall some distance below. At first we got excited thinking we had found a small rift dropping down a few metres. However, with further excavation it became obvious that we had uncovered the top of a much larger rift, opening out to reach a floor approximately 8m down (by the time the Chinese whispers of this had passed four people to those waiting on the surface, this rift had grown considerably to become a 100-foot pitch, generating concern amongst the Scarborough Caving Club contingent that they might have to get their SRT gear out of retirement).

The rift, although short, was not free-climbable and we hadn’t been ambitious enough to bring rigging gear! It was late on a Saturday evening by now and so we decided to delay the descent until Sunday morning and we emerged feeling rather excited and took a late night drive back to York to collect some gear. We returned to our campsite in Hutton-le-Hole just in time for a well deserved pint at The Crown, who by then were used to seeing our muddy faces standing at their bar! Sunday morning came and we rigged the pitch and made the first descent. Eight metres down a floor was reached and we found ourselves stood on a large ledge, part way up a tall aven (this has since been named ‘Beyond Belief) with a perfectly formed belemnite fossil displaying itself on the floor. Another short pitch dropped us down into the spacious boulder-filled Main Chamber 20m below the surface and with two tempting routes leading off. The new cave was named ‘Excalibur Pot’ in tribute to the main digging tool that had helped uncover it - A chunky metal bar with a spike on one end and a crossbar near to the other. This was actually commissioned specifically for driving into the ground and rigging mine shafts from, however we found it much more useful (and satisfying) for levering and smashing boulders! The bar resembles a large sword (hence ‘Excalibur’) and is still being used for boulder tickling on an almost weekly basis!

References and Further Reading

 * Douthwaite, G. & Ewles, M. 2008 "The Moorland Excalibur" Descent no. 202, pp 20-21
 * Ewles, M & Douthwaite G. 2009. Survey and Guide York Caving Club