Cowshill Cave

Location
Grid Reference: SO 5643 0156

Altitude: ~180m

Cowshill Cave is situated alongside a pond in a field adjacent the Chepstow to Coleford B4228 road near Hewelsfield.

Access
On private farmland. Contact RFDCC for access.

Description
Length: 55m

Vertical range: 19m

A short cave, sink and active dig which is presumed to be at the upper reaches of the Ban Y Gor system.

A 9m fixed ladder shaft, lined by a polythene pipe, drops down to a short concreted corridor and another drop of 2m or so. The second drop lands on a concreted floor of a large collapse chamber. Water sinks into boulders in the floor and this lead is currently being dug. Other dry passages lead north and south which have seen digging activity.

History
The dig started as a small surface sink alongside a pond in January 2008. Work was carried out by Jan Karvik and the Chepstow Diggers. A vertical shaft was rapidly sunk and voids opened up as the bedrock was met. The rock was, however, very friable. A large collapse chamber was entered, but major engineering work was required to make safe access to the find. Walls, floors and rooves were cast in concrete through the danger sections and 900mm diameter polythene drain pipes used to line the entrance shaft. The sinking water was piped from the surface to keep the shaft dry and discharge into the chamber. Various leads north and south have been dug, but the current work is in floor of the chamber following sinking water.

Survey

 * 3D model for viewing with Survex (Aven) here
 * Raw survey data in Survex format here
 * Original survey notes as PDF here