31 



0n Umx& CEabt, ILongclttfe, -jacvligsfiirf. 



By John Ward. 



h 



N that high ridge of ground in Derbyshire between Wirks- 

 worth and Matlock, above the village of Brassington, 

 known as Longcliffe, a small bone cave has been 

 recently discovered that is of great and varied interest, 

 and promises to yield important contributions to our knowledge of 

 the habits and nature of our cave- dwelling ancestors. The cave 

 itself, though it is gained by a very small opening in the limestone 

 blocks that crown the lofty ridge, has been known, it is said, for some 

 time to a few of the dwellers in the neighbourhood, and may have 

 been occasionally detected by a rambler in search of the picturesque ■ 

 but it was not until March, 1888, that its varied deposit of bones was 

 detected, and previous visits must have been very casual and few, 

 for the undetected evidence of its use by both man and beast lay so 

 near the surface, and, to some extent, altogether unconcealed. 



To two of the sons of Mr. Rains, a yeoman of Brassington Moor, 

 whose farm runs up close to the ridge, is to be assigned the credit of 

 the discovery. Being young men of considerable intelligence, and 

 already interested in kindred subjects, when their attention was at- 

 tracted to some of the bones near the surface of the interior of the 

 cave, they began, and by degrees carried out, an extensive exploration 

 of its contents to some depth. The " finds " were gradually removed 

 to Mr. Rains' out-buildings, where they attracted the attention of 

 Lord Scarsdale, the owner of the farm. Lord Scarsdale, as a vice- 

 president of the Derbyshire Archseological and Natural History 

 Society, and taking an active interest in its proceedings, communicated 

 the fact of this bone-find to Mr. Arthur Cox, the Hon. Secretary. 

 Correspondence was entered into with the great bone-cave authority. 



