16 REPORT 1865. 



First Report of the Committee for exploring Kent's Cavern, Devon- 

 shire. The Committee consisting of Sir Charles Lyell, Bart., 

 Professor Phillips, Sir John Lubbock, Bart., Mr. John Evans, 

 Mr. Edward Vivian, and Mr. William Pengelly (Reporter) . 



The celebrated Kent's Cavern, or Kent's Hole, is about a mile due east from 

 Torquay barbour. It is situated in a small, wooded, limestone hill on tbe 

 western side of a valley wbicb, about half a mile to the south, terminates 

 on tbe northern shore of Torbay. 



Tbe hills -which surround the district consist of limestone, greenstone, 

 clay-slate, and a reddish grit or compact sandstone. Tbe two last are tra- 

 versed by veins of quartz ; and, with tbe possible exception of tbe green- 

 stone, they all belong to tbe Devonian system. Indeed the entire Torquay 

 peninsula is exclusively made up of rocks of this age. 



According to tradition, there were formerly four or five entrances to the 

 cavern, of which two only were generally known, the others being merely 

 narrow apertures or slits through which, until they were blocked up from 

 within, tbe initiated were wont to enter clandestinely. The remaining two 

 are about 50 feet apart, and occur in tbe face of one and the same low 

 natural cliff, running nearly north and south, on the south-eastern side of 

 the hill. The northern entrance is in form a rude triangle, about 6 feet 

 high and 8 feet wide at the base. The southern is a natural and tole- 

 rably symmetrical arch, 9g feet wide at the base, and 6 feet high. Its 

 form is due partly to a gentle curvature of the strata — the apex of the 

 opening being in the anticlinal axis — and partly to the actual removal, by 

 natural causes, of portions of the limestone beds ; the base of the opening, 

 or chord of the arc, consists of undisturbed limestone ; so that the entrance 

 may be aptly compared to tbe mouth of an oven. 



From the time of the researches and discoveries which, forty years ago, 

 rendered the cavern famous, to the commencement of the exploration under 

 the auspices of this Association, the southern entrance has been blocked up, 

 the northern alone being vised by visitors. The base of the latter is about 

 189 feet above the lovel of mean tide*, whilst that of the former is about 

 4 feet lower. 



The Cavern has been known from time immemorial. Even tradition fails 

 to reach back to the date of its discovery. It did not, however, attract the 

 attention of scientific inquirers until September 1824, when Mr. Northmore 

 visited it with the double object, as be stated, " of discovering organic remains, 

 and of ascertaining the existence of a temple of Mithras," and he declared 

 himself" happy to say that he was successfid in both objects." He was speedily 

 followed by Mr. W. C. Trevilyan, who, according to the Rev. Mr. M'Enery, 

 " was the first that obtained any results of value to science." Mr. M'Enery, 

 whose name must be for ever associated with the cavern, first visited it in the 

 summer of 1825. He was at that time quite inexperienced in cavern re- 

 searches ; for he states that the party which he had been induced to accom- 

 pany was a large one, and that on entering the cavern he " was the last of 

 the train, for he could not divest himself of certain undefinable sensations, it 

 being his first visit to a scene of this nature." The visit was a memorable 

 one ; for, separating himself from his companions, and devoting himself to 



* A " bench mark " of the Ordnance Survey in the road from Torquay to Ilsham farm, 

 and which is at no great distance from the cavern, is, as Col. Sir H. James kindly informs 

 me, 131'629 feet above the level of mean tide at Liverpool. By pocket aneroid, the base 

 of the northern entrance of the cavern is 575 feet above this mark. — W. P. 



