Bakers Pit is a

phreatic ''Phreatic'' is a term used in hydrology to refer to aquifers, in speleology to refer to cave passages, and in volcanology to refer to a type of volcanic eruption. Hydrology The term phreatic (the word originates from the Greek , meaning "well" ...

maze

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

system near

Buckfastleigh Buckfastleigh is a market town and civil parish in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway ( A38) at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge and, for ecclesiastical purposes, lies within the Totnes Deanery. ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. It was first opened in 1847 by quarrying activities. Bakers Pit is entered via a vertical descent of 16 metres. It has of passage contained within an area of and a small stream, flowing to the

River Dart The River Dart is a river in Devon, England, that source (river), rises high on Dartmoor and flows for to the sea at Dartmouth, Devon, Dartmouth. Name Most hydronyms in England derive from the Common Brittonic, Brythonic language (from which ...

, that is still actively developing the cave. It was once connected to Reeds cave, however, only "voice" connection is currently possible, and only in a few locations. Connections between the two systems have been filled in with concrete to protect the beautiful formations in the Reeds cave. The cave was much frequented between the wars by local people during which time many of the calcite formations were destroyed, although some formations have now naturally regenerated. In the early 1960s an upper series was discovered significantly extending the known cave by as much as 50 per cent by climbing a vertical slot in the roof. This extension is better known as the Plymouth Extension and this area contains some of the best examples of formations due to its difficult access of squeezes and climbs. This upper series once went up to the surface but for conservation this has been sealed off with an emergency plan in place in case of rescue from this upper series..

Wildlife

Devon caves are good places to find humidity-loving

collembola Springtails (class Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects. Although the three lineages are sometimes grouped together in a class called Entognatha because they have internal m ...

and ''Pseudosinella dobati'' (a blind white cave-adapted species), ''Symphyla isabellae, Tetracanthella britannica'' and ''Heteromurus nitidus'' have been recorded in Baker's Pit. Other invertebrates include the staphilinid beetle ''Quedius mesomelinus'' and the arachnid ''Lessertia denticalis.''Transactions of the British Cave Research Association vol 5; no 3; pp 168 & 195

References

Caves of Devon {{devon-geo-stub