TITAN (CAVE)

'Titan' is the longest free hanging pitch in any known United Kingdom cave, in the Derbyshire Peak District, some 464 feet (141.5 m) tall. The previous record holder was Gaping Gill in the Yorkshire Dales. Titan was discovered on 1 January 1999 when cavers discovered a connection from the Speedwell Cavern System and the Peak Cavern.
Dave Nixon, part of a group of Peak cavers, found Titan near another huge cavern, Leviathan situated in James Hall Over Engine Mine, after finding an account by an obscure eighteenth century academic, James Plumtree, in a university library.
In 1793 Plumtree wrote a paper which described a network of caves which went beyond the well-known Speedwell cave system near Castleton. His account took him down the Speedwell Canal and deep into the mines, but his journal described a cave system that went far beyond what had since been explored
Nixon realised the entrance must have been blocked by a rockfall and set out to find it, with the help of a group of cavers. When rocks were removed, the potholers opened the door on a long forgotten system that eventually led the group to Titan. They spent three years removing another fall of boulders before finally gaining entry into the bottom of the cavern. A six day climb led to the roof with no way on but a passage from the West some 20m further down is believed to be the source of the stream which helped to form this massive cavern.
Blocked by mud and rocks the West Passage could not be explored from the Peak or Speedwell systems as it was too far. A 46 metre-deep access shaft which took over four years to dig has been constructed to gain access to the continuation passage near the top of Titan and digging continues in an attempt to further the exploration.
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The total length of the cavern system exceeds 17 kilometres.
It is located at Hurdlow, Castleton, Derbyshire, at (or ).

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External links

External links

★ UK's 'deepest' cave is discovered

★ Britain's biggest cave discovered. (BBC Video - requires Real Player or Windows Media Player)

★ Titan - Peak District Caving info.

★ Titan Photos