Hidden Britain AtlasOpen the map
All places › Caves & grottoes
Cave or grotto

Victoria Cave

Near Settle, North Yorkshire

Found on Queen Victoria's coronation day, full of hippo bones.

In 1837 a man called Michael Horner found this cave above Settle on the day of Queen Victoria's coronation, and it was named after her. Inside were bones of hippos, elephants, rhinos and hyenas from a warm period about 130,000 years ago, and an Ice Age harpoon made from reindeer antler.

Read the full story, see it on the map, get directions and find what else is nearby in the free Hidden Britain Atlas map.

Open Victoria Cave on the mapReport a sighting here
When
Found 1837
Where
54.0830, -2.2700
Group
Caves & grottoes

Visiting

Reached by footpath from Langcliffe. The cave is unsafe to enter far.

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.

Buy on AmazonAll books by Cale Mills

Nearby mysteries