Rhewl Cave (Prion)

Subject: Rhewl Cave (Prion) Sat 28 Mar 2009, 2:40 am

Location
SJ 066 625

Directions
From Llanrhaeadr, take the road to Rhewl (towards Prion, not towards Ruthin) and, as you fork left (past a property called “Graig Lwyd” you will see a public footpath on the right. Take this footpath, across the field and over the boundary stile. You will see a depression (shakehole?) with bushes/trees in. The cave entrance is in the lowest part of this depression guarded by nettles.

Access
Not Known. There is a gate across the front but this appears to be to prevent livestock from falling inside the entrance.

Suggested Equipment
None

Length
150 feet (in total so far explored)

Flood risk
None known but the streamis active

Cave Attributes
Part-active stream passage known to resurge at the Dyfnog Well (Roman bath) at Llanrhaeadr

Description
An awkward(ish) squeeze into the cave which then opens up somewhat. The stream wanders along a passage then turns sharply right (the passage continues). Turning right you are in a small chamber which has a bolted hander on the wall but the “hole” this is equipped for now seems silted and would require a dig.

There are a couple of tight squeezes which remain unexplored.

The passage which continues past where the stream turns right takes an “S” bend and then tapers our to a silted end (diggable?). Here there is a tight squeezy drop on the left which is impeded by a well placed boulder (movable?)

At the end of this passage is a pile of bones the size of a human baby or similar sized animal. The bones appear very aged and the apparent skull is a strange shape.

Unexplored Passges
The two squeezes.
The glacially blocked end.
The hole in the floor where the water flows which has been rigged.

Digs
There is evidence of an abandoned dig at "8" on the map.

Links
http://cucc.survex.com/archive/jnl/1975/grave.htm