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 ...
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
Peak District
The Peak District is an Highland, upland area in central-northern England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivi ...
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
, at . The existence of Titan was revealed in November 2006, following its discovery on 1 January 1999 after
caver
Caving, also known as spelunking (United States and Canada) and potholing (United Kingdom and Ireland), is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is the scientific ...
Ingleborough
Ingleborough () is the List of peaks in the Yorkshire Dales, second-highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks (the other two being Whernside and Pen-y-ghent), and is frequently climbed as part of ...
in the
Yorkshire Dales
The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...
.
A group of Peak District cavers led by Dave Nixon (nicknamed "Moose") discovered the shaft after finding an account by an 18th-century academic, James Plumtree, in a university library. Initial explorations in the James Hall Over Engine Mine led to the discovery of a large shaft named
Leviathan
Leviathan ( ; ; ) is a sea serpent demon noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, and the pseudepigraphical Book of Enoch. Leviathan is of ...
, before further excavations revealed the existence of Titan.
History
In 1793, Plumtree wrote a paper describing a network of passages and shafts that went beyond the well-known Speedwell Cave/Mine system near Castleton. His account took him down the Speedwell Canal and deep into the cave system, but his journal described mined passages (worked mostly in darkness) that went far beyond what had then been explored. The Plumtree account specifically mentions a way out to the surface some above "by way of another man's mine".
Surveying showed that one of many shafts on the surface on the mineral rake in which Speedwell's mined passages are formed was the shaft of James Hall's Over Engine Mine (JH). The Hall family were one of the many families of Castleton engaged in
lead
Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
mining,
farming
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
, and inn-keeping—often simultaneously—and the family were often licensees of the George Hotel. At the foot of the shaft the "cartgate" level (where the lead
ore
Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the concentration ...
was carted to the haulage shaft) was found to have no fewer than seven blockages, which took as many years to clear.
Miner
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...
s' initials marked on the walls of Speedwell Cavern, Peak Cavern and JH confirmed this was one way at least that early miners ("t'owd man" in caving parlance) reached Speedwell Cavern from the surface far above.
Discovery
Eventually a miners' workplace was discovered, leading to Leviathan—a huge natural shaft altered by mining operations, deep in total. Many relics from the mining operations were discovered there still in situ as the miners left them.
The team spent three years removing another huge fall of boulders before finally gaining entry to Speedwell Cavern at the Boulder Piles. Another huge blockage at the foot of Leviathan was excavated in an operation requiring the building of a railway, and eventually the dig led into the Far Sump extension of Peak Cavern. This section of cave was previously only accessible either by diving Peak Cavern's Far Sump or via Speedwell Cavern with very difficult caving.
Moose and his team later went to this area of Peak Cavern via JH and arrived at the underside of an enormous boulder choke just a few metres from the upstream end of Far Sump. The group subsequently discovered a way up through the massive boulder pile and arrived at the foot of Titan. The echoes from their shouts and noise from the waterfall indicated a huge shaft, but their lamps showed what appeared to be the top about above them—The Event Horizon.
This proved to be only a narrowing to a large ledge and the shaft continued soaring upwards into the darkness. A six-day climb led to the domed roof with no way on, but a passage from the west some further down is believed to be the source of the stream that helped to form this massive cavern.
Blocked by a huge hanging boulder choke, the West Passage could not be explored as the choke was too dangerous to enter in its exposed position—circa above the floor. A -deep access shaft excavated from the surface took over four years to dig and now gives access to a bedding-plane passage entering the main shaft near the top of Titan. Digging continues in an attempt to extend the system in other directions. The total length of the cave system exceeds .
The cave is located near Castleton,
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...