You Never Know What You’ll Find Down the Rabbit Hole! Were the Spooky Caynton Caves a Secret Templar Sanctuary?

Ancient Origins

There is a fascinating and creepy underground sanctuary located in Shropshire, England known as the Caynton Caves. Allegedly linked to the famous Knights Templars and black magic rituals, legends say the caves date back 700 years. But finding the spooky caves isn’t the easiest of tasks. It all begins with going down the right rabbit hole…

 Although the caves are less than a meter below surface, you may not have the easiest of times if you decide to go looking for them. Michael Scott, from Birmingham, recently decided to search them out and photograph them. He told BBC News "I traipsed over a field to find it, but if you didn't know it was there you would just walk right past it.”

Entrance to the Caynton Caves/Grotto. (Richard Law/CC BY SA 2.0)

Perhaps this secret spot was chosen for a reason. One of the most popular local legends says that the sandstone caves were carved by Knights Templars looking for a place to worship without persecution.

The Templars was one of the most renowned military orders during the Middle Ages. The source of their fame came not only from their prowess on the battlefield, but also from the wealth they amassed during the Crusades. The Knights Templars were founded around 1118-1119 in Jerusalem by the French knight Hugh des Payens. Often regarded as a “secret society” the Templars have been linked to many mysteries, treasures, and important religious relics lost throughout the ages, such as the Holy Grail, Ark of the Covenant, and the Shroud of Turin.

Composite image of members of the Knights Templar (Public Domain) and a treasure pile. (CC BY SA 2.0)

But the Templars weren’t the only ones to allegedly use the Caynton Caves, Dominic Wass, an urban artist who has a workshop nearby, told UK Urban Exploration some other stories about others using (or perhaps creating) the site. These range from a landowner illegally keeping 60 slaves at the site, to an eccentric wealthy family from the 1850s thinking it would just be great fun to have such a spooky place.

 When you find the cave entrance, BBC News says that you enter a tunnel which leads you to “a network of walkways and arches carved out of sandstone, as well as a font.” Some of the areas of the cave are so cramped that you’d have to crawl on your hands and knees to pass through. The cave walls depict mystic sigils (seals), mixed with more modern graffiti.

Photos inside the Caynton Caves. (UK Urban Exploration)

 Mr. Scott described his experience inside the Caynton Caves for BBC News, saying “I had to crouch down and once I was in it was completely silent. There were a few spiders in there but that was it. It was raining so the slope down was quite sludgy but inside the cave was bone dry.”

Recent tales suggest that local cults have chosen the out-of-the-way location for black magic and other rituals. Modern (and possibly ancient?) Druids have also been connected to the Caynton Caves. UK Urban Exploration suggests that the landowners had been mostly accommodating to the sects, good or evil, if they asked permission to use the site - and took good care of it.

But some of the more sinister ceremonies, and a lack of respect for the Caynton Caves, led local residents to close up the site a few years ago. Nonetheless, wrought iron gates, barbed wire, brambles, a large mastiff, and CCTV haven’t been enough to keep some people away.

Candles and litter scattered about a passageway in the Caynton Caves. (Richard Law/CC BY SA 2.0)

 Now, the Shropshire Star say there are rumors going around that the creepy Caynton caves have been re-opened, however, this has not yet been confirmed by the landowners.

Photo inside the Caynton Caves. (UK Urban Exploration)

Top Image: Recent photos of the candle-lit Caynton Caves. Source: Shropshire Star

By Alicia McDermott

Entering an Unknown Pagan Sanctuary: New Discoveries Made at a Roman Site in Israel

Ancient Origins

A team of researchers have finally found the missing link in the ancient Israeli city of Hippos-Sussita. Following discoveries of a large bronze mask of the Greek god Pan and a monumental gate, they were searching for the last piece of evidence to ascertain the era and purpose of the rich site. Through the discovery of a large theater and a bathhouse, they have declared it was almost definitely occupied during peacetime. However, the theater seems to have been used as a space for something other than entertainment - the experts speculate that it could have been a religious center instead.

An Important City During Roman Times
The new discoveries were made during recent excavations in the Hippos-Sussita Excavations Project, a research project conducted by a team from the University of Haifa with partners from all over the globe, at Hippos, overlooking the Sea of Galilee in Northern Israel.

Hippos Saddle Ridge - December 16 by University of Haifa Photogrammetry Lab on Sketchfab

The Roman amphitheater they uncovered leaves no doubt about the site’s era. As Dr. Michael Eisenberg of the University of Haifa and leader of the Hippos Excavations Project, revealed,

"The excavations outside the city over the past few years are falling into place like in a detective story.” He went on to explain, “First we found the mask of Pan, then the monumental gate leading to what we began to assume was a large public compound - a sanctuary. And now, this year, we find a public bathhouse and theater in the same location, both facilities that in the Roman period could be associated with the god of medicine Asclepius or with gods of nature such as Dionysus and Pan.”

Early excavations of the Roman theater. There is a semicircular passage between the lower and upper seating arrangements (praencinctio) and an entrance to a vaulted corridor (vomitorium). (M. Eisenberg)

As previously reported on Ancient Origins, the team of archaeologists unearthed a large bronze mask of the Greek god of forests and shepherds (Pan) while excavating a catapult armory outside Hippos-Sussita in 2015. They suggested that it dates to the Pax Romana, a time of peace in the Roman Empire.

Dr. Michael Eisenberg holding up the bronze mask of Pan. (Michael Eisenberg)

The Missing Link is Found
Despite all the evidence, there was a missing link that didn’t allow the researchers to state the site’s exact era with certainty: The Roman Theater. As Eisenberg described,

“No self-respecting Roman city in this period could allow itself to remain without a theater. It’s simply unthinkable that any Roman polis could have existed without a theater.”

Eisenberg also added that Dr. Arthur Segal, leader of the Hippos project for many years and a top expert on the theaters in the Roman East, was the one who insisted that there must be a theater in the city. As one can easily understand, its discovery gives a new meaning to the project and the reassurance local researchers needed to verify their theories and speculations.

Dr. A. Iermolin (standing) and Dr. M. Eisenberg during the excavation of the first vaulted passage (vomitorium). (A. Nakaryakov)

Religious Ceremonies
Instead of Entertainment However, Haaretz reports that all the findings so far have led the experts to speculate that the theater was more likely used for religious purposes than a place of entertainment. As Eisenberg said,

“What is even more exciting for the researchers than the discovery of the theater is the fact that they may have uncovered an expansive sanctuary outside the city walls. Dionysus, the god of wine, is associated with change and the loss of identity, and accordingly, with the masks used in the theater.”

Additionally, Eisenberg explained that the gate, which is almost unearthed, probably bore the bronze mask of Pan that was found in one of the gate towers, “All these findings suggest that this was a large sanctuary outside the city – something that completely changes what we knew about Hippos and the surrounding area, until now.”

Hippos (Sussita) Excavations - A Portal for Pan by mayzenb on Sketchfab

Hippos (Sussita) Excavations - A Portal for Pan by mayzenb on Sketchfab

He makes sure to note, however, that all this is just a hypothesis for the moment, and only further research – and possibly more findings – will clear things up.

Top Image: A view of 2016 excavations the archaeological site at Hippos. Source: Hippos-Sussita Excavations Project

By Theodoros Karasavvas