5-570: The Caynton Caves are a series of man-made underground chambers in the grounds of Caynton Hall , near Beckbury , Shropshire , England. Their original purpose and date of construction are disputed, though most authoritative sources date them to the 19th century. The caverns comprise an irregular series of neo-Romanesque ambulatories and chambers hollowed out of sandstone, with carved archways, pillars, symbols and niches, apparently for candles. They are located about 250 metres (820 ft) west of Caynton Hall, beneath privately-owned woodland, within
10-574: A disused stone quarry. One suggestion is that they were the result of quarrying during the mid-19th century and were then turned by the landowners, the Legge family, into a grotto or underground folly . There have been speculative claims that the caverns are older, perhaps dating back at least to the 17th century, and some press articles have associated them with the Knights Templar . However, historian and author Dan Jones considers that there
15-560: A photographer and received widespread publicity in March 2017. 52°37'24.4"N 2°19'58.7"W 52°37′23″N 2°19′44″W / 52.623°N 2.329°W / 52.623; -2.329 Beckbury Beckbury is a village and civil parish in Shropshire , England. Beckbury had a population of 327 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 340 at the 2011 Census, The village is 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Telford and
20-712: Is close to the Staffordshire border. The small rural parish of Beckbury lies on the Shropshire–Staffordshire border 3.7 miles (6 km) south of Shifnal . It has a pub – the Smokey Cow, a Church of England school , a village hall, and a parish church dedicated to St Milburga (who was Abbess at Much Wenlock in Saxon times). Beckbury makes up one of the six parishes of Beckbury, Ryton , Kemberton , Badger , Sutton Maddock and Stockton , which became
25-480: Is no evidence linking the caves to the Templars and Historic England dates the grotto as probably late 18th-century or early 19th-century. The site is on private land and not open to the public. However, since at least the 1980s, the caverns have sometimes been used for informal secret ceremonies and rituals. They have been vandalised and were closed off in 2012 as a result. Later unblocked, they were accessed by
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