Entrances 1 Lighting Yes Features Ochre. Lake Entrance 1 | Access Public Visitors Yes Phone +44 1594 832535 | |
 | ||
Location Clearwell, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire Address The Rocks, Clearwell, Coleford GL16 8JR, UK Hours Open today · 10AM–4PMTuesday10AM–4PMWednesday10AM–4PMThursday10AM–4PMFriday10AM–4PMSaturday10AM–4PMSunday10AM–4PMMondayClosed Similar Forest of Dean, Puzzlewood, Sculpture Trail, Dean Heritage Centre, Hopewell Colliery Profiles | ||
Christmas 2014 visit to clearwell caves
Clearwell Caves, at Clearwell in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, is a natural cave system which has been extensively mined for iron ore. It now operates primarily as a mining museum. The caves are part of a Natural England designated Site of Special Scientific Interest and the notification includes parts of Clearwell along with Old Bow, Lambsquay and Old Ham mine complexes.
Contents
Clearwell caves
Mining
The caves were formed by underground streams from around 180 million years ago. They have been mined for iron ore from Iron Age times Circa 100BC increasing from Roman times and extensively in the last century, which considerably enlarged and extended the network of natural caverns. Ochre has been mined here for even longer.
The nearby scowles at the Secret Forest and Puzzlewood represent similar shallow mines which have been exposed from above.
The mine is still worked intermittently to produce coloured ochres for use as natural pigments. These are washed and milled for sale in the mine's own shop. A range of ochre colours are available, from golden yellow to English Reds. Clearwell is also known as one of the few locations where the rare purple ochre may be found.
Nine chambers are easily accessible from ground level, and represent the earliest workings of the mine. A network of much deeper chambers can be visited in the presence of a guide and with appropriate caving equipment for safety. The upper caves are open to the public.
Recreational use
The caves have been used as a Santa's Grotto at Christmas time for many years, for easter egg hunts and in the summer barbecues, concerts and theatrical performances have been hosted in the upper caves. One chamber is large and well-ventilated enough to permit underground functions. Parts of the Doctor Who episodes "The Christmas Invasion" (2005), "The Satan Pit" (2006) and "Time of Angels" / "Flesh and Stone" (2010) were filmed in the caves,. All the underground scenes of the BBC series "Merlin", were filmed in the Caves. The Caves and nearby quarry at Clearwell have also long been used for filming science fiction scenes, such as in Blake's 7. The caves featured substantially in the children's series "The Changes" and "The Jensen Code" among many others.
Reported paranormal activity
Claims of paranormal phenomena at the caves have been made over the years. These include reports of the sound of metal clanging in the distance and reported sightings of an old miner and the sound of footsteps and pick axes working.