Chislehurst caves has got sod all to do with Druids Romans and Saxons it is with out doubt a 17th century Chalk mine used for Lime burning Druids ,Romans Saxon . My Backside.

Chislehurst caves has got sod all to do with Druids Romans and Saxons it is with out doubt a 17th century Chalk mine used for Lime burning Druids ,Romans Saxon . My Backside.

Cave man pete: What I added to the mine record is an extract from a book and, if you read it carefully, is actually all about the use of the site during WW2. Also, the quote, reading between the lines, pours scorn on the silly stories just as you have done, only a tad more subtley.

What cannot be denied is that the silly stories (or the telling of them) is actually now a well-established part of the mine's history, and as such deserves being placed on record.

Far-fetched stories about Barons' Cave in Reigate are still told to visitors, by me and by others, as the telling of the story is part of the tradition of the cave. We do make a point of telling all visitors that the story is bunkum.

Hi Peter Burgess.
Caveman Pete Here.

I worked has a guide for well over 20 years in the Chislehurst Cave for The Owner James Gardner,upon his demise his son. I have taken thousands of tours round the caves. But at the end of it all its a ChalkMine and thats all.

If you rattled on about nothing but mining on your tour your visitors would be bored so to liven it up by all means add a bit of Romance call it what you like. I know people would rather hear a guide talk about ghosts and god knows what else

I agree with you its been apart of Chisleshurst history this nonsnse since the 1920s. I loved guiding and meeting the Public but I will denounce Romans druids and saxon weather it read or disscussed on a forum the likes of this one.

I did not mean to sound so rude. But iam telling the truth on a mining forum.

Hi Pete.

Amongst my friends, Chislehurst cave is famous for two things. Its use in the war as a shelter, and for the stories told to tourists. Like it or not, the stories are now 'part' of Chislehurst. There are two sorts of tourists, those who stand in awe at what the guides tell them, and those who just love the "entertainment".

I too have taken people into Surrey mines for many years. We tell them the history and archaeology, which might sound dead boring, but only last night I was running such a trip with some people who were seeing the place for the first time, and I had no need to resort to invention. There is plenty to tell without sounding boring. Sometimes its not what you say that counts, its how you say it. I have to say I find chalk mines quite boring in comparison with the places I know, but I think that might just be because I am not aware of some of the more subtle features of chalk mines so, as people sometimes say of the Surrey mines, "they all look the same to me".

One chalk mine that I did find interesting was Emmer Green, because the person showing us round knew the place so well and showed us all the things that might be missed by most people.

And in 1972 they filmed Dr Who 'The Mutants' here. Apparently there is still some sparkly paint on the walls.

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I'm interested in the Samian ware and other objects that were found in the 1850's in a marl pit in the Camden Park Chalk mine, Lubbock Rd, Chislehurst, Kent. I have recently read an article in Vol 11 of the Chelsea Spelaeological Society which describe the find;

'The pit was thought to be a marl pit...out of the infill came the teeth and jaws of oxen and deer antlers,teeth and jaws of a dog or wolf, the skulls of smaller creatures such as hedgehogs, the skeleton of a hog and another of a horse or ass. Near to the ceiling was a piece of Samian ware,possible a saltcellar with a potter's mark of fifth century...'

I found an article by Robert Booth Latter Esq!!in the Kent Archaelogical Society (vol1 1858p140) describing the fragments of fifth century Samian ware found in the marl pit...http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/001-1858/10/138.htm

Any idea what happened to these objects?

I have already contacted Bromley Museum, who told me that the Samian artefacts are not part of the Museum’s collection. They have also checked with ODAS’s The Upper Cray Valley Project Volume III: 700 BC – AD 410 (Iron Age and Roman) and, while it does acknowledge the excavation, it shows the artefacts’ location as unknown.

I would be very interested to hear if you have any information relating to this find

I have emailed Rod Le Gear to ask him about your Samian ware, probably best placed to answer among those I know.

My favourite bit of the Chiselhurst tour spiel was the 'Roman Well' which, if memory serves, is covered by a 19th century invoice for the sinking of. :)

Similar entertaining pseudo-history is used in many, many museum sites with tours. The general public aren't interested in pick marks and pillar and stall methods; they want to hear cool-sounding tories in an unusual setting.

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The general public aren't interested in pick marks and pillar and stall methods; they want to hear cool-sounding stories in an unusual setting.

I disagree. We provide a 45 to 50 minute tour of the Reigate sand "caves", and provide historical and mine-related information, and anecdotes with a factual base. Our visitor numbers grow year on year. The only complaint we got last weekend was from one person who was expecting stalactites not "old mines". There's always one. :guns:

Thanks very much for emailing Rod le Gear....looking forward to finding out more about the disappearance of the Samian ware!!

I think that institutions like the Chislehurst Caves have quite a bit to do with British social history of the late 19th century. The railway network around London was well developed by that time and people had sufficient disposable income to take cheap Sunday tickets to places like Hampton Court, Kew Gardens, Windsor, Epping Forest and Chislehurst. They all had their myths - I think it was the ghost of Anne Boleyn at Hampton - or perhaps it was the Tower or both. Tea rooms of the Ann's Pantry variety popped up in these locales and proved a nice little earner for the locals and in Loughton where I lived, these refreshment places became of interest to local historians in their own right.