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Clearwell Caves

Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire

Iron mines worked since the Stone Age, and still worked today.

Iron ore has been mined at Clearwell for around 4,500 years, making it one of the oldest mines in Britain. Miners followed natural caves deep into the rock.

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When
Mined for 4,500 years
Where
51.7700, -2.6200
Group
Caves & grottoes

Visiting

Open most of the year, with deep-level caving trips for adventurous visitors.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.

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