LONDON WALK NO 126 – GROUP 3 – CHISLEHURST CAVES ORGANISED BY JAN DAVIDSON & JANET O’REILLY – Wednesday 21st August 2019 11 intrepid explorers caught the 10.01 train from Tonbridge Station for the journey to Chislehurst, changing at Orpington. The numbers were down due to a clash with a U3A trip to “Oklahoma” (not literally of course!). As usual there was some hilarity, as they nearly lost John who had left his new hat on the train. Due to a little early morning confusion another 2 followed on the 10.19, which must have been a faster train as the later 2 caught the early 11 up on the walk to the caves. (Keep up !!). There was just a short 5 minute walk to the entrance to the Caves. The entrance hall to Chislehurst Caves is very interesting, having photographs and memorabilia from its past and various videos on a continuous loop about the history of Chislehurst. We stopped for coffee and joined the 12 o’clock tour. The Chislehurst Caves have a long and varied history, and the tour would only show visitors one-twentieth of the 22 linear miles of known tunnels. The full extent of the caves is unknown even today, and clearing away rock from some seeming cul-de-sac may suddenly reveal the entrance to yet another labyrinth of passages. The earliest recorded reference to chalk mining at Chislehurst is in a Saxon Charter written between 1250 and 1274. Reliable information only became available in 1862 when the Ordnance Survey mapped the area in great detail in readiness for the construction of the South Eastern Railway’s line to Tonbridge. Columns of rock supporting the roof tell you that these were mines, dug in medieval times for lime-burning chalk and its nuggets of flint, digging on an older site, certainly Roman, possibly much older. It must have been profitable; they kept on digging outwards, so that the cave map on sale in the shop looks like a loosely-assembled brain. So off the tour went, trying not to imagine the 120 foot (40 metres) or so of soil, roads and houses above their heads, battered lanterns clunking awkwardly against rock faces, beams swinging wildly in the dark of the caves. In fact ‘Caves’ is something of a misnomer, as these are man made tunnels. Taking the guided tour, you will be treated to tales of druidical sacrifices of women and children on an altar, and be shown a map of the Roman and Saxon areas of the mine, but there seems little historical evidence to back any of these claims, and there was much disagreement between members of the Archaeological Association of the 1900’s. Because the tunnels are mad-made, there is a uniformity to the passageways and a lack of the surprise one gets in natural cave structures – there are no sudden reveals of huge caverns or underground streams, no stalagtites, no different rock strata to give colour and contrast. What can’t be denied though is the utter blackness of the caves when the guide turns off the light, or the echo, like rolling thunder, that reverberates through 22 miles of tunnels when he loudly hit a drum. Nor can you quite escape that feeling of claustrophobia and fear of the dark. Notwithstanding the lack of proven ancient history to the Caves, its modern story is fascinating. What really captures the imagination is their war record: in the First World War they held ammunition; in the Second they were needed for people. The then owner, a mushroom grower called James Geary Gardner, opened them up to Londoners escaping the Blitz and the local vicar headed up the ‘Caves Committee’ that ran the place. In fact it was not so much a shelter as an underground town, with 16,000 overnight residents at its peak in 1941. You would pay 1d a night (6d a week) for your ‘pitch’ and be crammed into narrow bunks that were themselves crammed into small chambers within the mine. The Hospital Imagine the smell of thousands of bodies in the days before deodorant (and with no running water for toilets), or the noise echoing round the tunnels of all these people chattering, snoring and crying. And the logistics of checking in all these people each night, sorting bedding, latrines and washing facilities and making sure they all left for work or school in the morning. Trains and coaches brought people directly to the caves. You can still see sections partitioned off to give families a bit of privacy - one family stayed for five years; the last people left in 1947. Amongst the arches and tunnels stretching away to nothing were signs of modern human intervention: attempts at graffiti, a creepy pond (shades of Gollum) and the remains of a rock (literally) stage and bar used when Jimi Hendrix, The Who, the Yardbirds, the Stones and many others played subterranean gigs here. And like any decent London site, the caves appeared in several episodes of Doctor Who. A reconstruction of soldiers guarding munitions during the First World War A reconstruction of the cave's Second World War church It would seem, regardless of whether the Chislehurst Caves are 8000 or 800 years old, whether they had druids, or just people playing druids for TV in them, they remain, quintessentially British. As you leave, there are a bossy set of rules to follow up on the walls. On exiting the Caves, the group gathered beside the sign for our compulsory photo. And another to include Hilary. The tour was very interesting and brought back many memories for some of our group of their misspent youth! After the tour we caught the 162 bus to Chislehurst High Street where we had lunch. Some of us went into a very quirky pub that used to be the old Police Station. The lavatories were very interesting being mock Victorian and in each cubicle a story was being told. We didn’t stay long enough to hear the whole story or find out if they were different as we were late to meet the others who were waiting at the pond. Several famous people lived in Chislehurst o Malcolm Campbell, former land and water speed record holder o Richmal Crompton, author of the Just William series of books o Alan Watts, philosopher who moved to the USA became a Buddhist and was one of the founder members of what was to be “Flower Power” o William Willett, campaigner for daylight saving o Ted Willis, creator of Dixon of Dock Green Camden Place (now Chislehurst Golf Club) was once the home of the exiled French Emperor, Napoleon III. His body and that of the Prince Imperial were originally buried in St Mary’s Church, which we were going to visit; unfortunately they have now been moved to Farnborough, Hants, so we wandered around Prickend Pond and got the bus back to the station. Some in depth research was done on the origin of the name of the pond, but disappointingly it was quite straightforward – named after the original area name – Prickend. Like all the ponds in Chislehurst, it was formed by digging for gravel to make the roads in the area. It is among the most photographed areas of Chislehurst. The name "Chislehurst" is derived from the Saxon words cisel, "gravel", and hyrst, "wooded hill". A big thankyou to the Jans for a great day out, away from busy Central London in August; also to Hilary for some photos, and Jan for an outline writeup. .