AN OCCASION LIKE NOTHING ON EARTH
(BECAUSE IT’S LITERALLY BELOW THE EARTH)
We run many and varied events throughout the year, including watching films underground, caving, theatrical events, and even parties in our amazing cave complex. The caves are also make an incredible and unusual filming location.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Gillie + Ailsa Tully
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY POSTPONED – WE HOPE TO REPOST A DATE LATER IN THE YEAR!
Immerse yourself in the beautiful music of GILLIE + AILSA TULLY in our unique candle-lit venue.
Ailsa and her band create an ethereal world. Her music is rooted in folk, inspired by choral music and indie, her sound is haunting, tender and powerful. Her lyrics are honest and poetic, often exploring feminism and experiences of being female in her writing.
Ailsa’s all female band bring her songwriting to life, from modal harmonies and driving rhythms to tender emotive melody lines. Ailsa has been featured on BBC radio Wales many times, toured Italy, performed at festivals and venues throughout the country, including Greenman and Ronnie Scotts.
‘I can’t tell you how excited I got when I heard this… inexplicable transcendental excellence’
– Adam Walton (BBC Introducing Wales)
Tickets £11.00 – advance booking only.
Book online or call Clearwell Caves (10-4 weekdays) on 01594 832535.
Clearwell Caves Christmas 2020 – Archie and the Unicorn
28th November – 31st December 2020
Christmas at Clearwell Caves takes you into a whole other world where forests grow underground and the story of ‘Archie and the Unicorn’ unfolds in beautiful displays through caverns filled with twinkling lights. Half way through the displays, we have underground stalls selling stocking fillers and decorations, as well as a café, selling cakes and hot drinks; then the story continues… On the surface there is our gift shop selling unusual presents. Refreshments and seasonal treats are available in our Lamproom café, with a real fire burning – the perfect way to begin or complete your Christmas.
Opening Times after Christmas:
Archie and the Unicorn displays only, Lamproom café and shop: 27th to 31st December.
Forest of Dean Brass Band @ Clearwell Caves Christmas 2020
The Forest of Dean Brass Band will be playing at the Clearwell Caves Christmas event on the opening Saturday and Sunday (28th+29th Nov) between 2-4pm.
Visiting the Caves After Christmas
27th – 31st December 2020
Clearwell Caves will be open after Christmas for those wishing to enjoy a final look at our magical Christmas story. Whilst Father Christmas and our underground stalls will have left, you still walk through beautiful displays and can enjoy delicious refreshments in front of a warming fire in our Lamproom Cafe.
Opening times: 27th – 31st December, 10am – 4pm (last entry)
Bat Nav
Sound and interactive installations have been positioned through the caverns.
The project was inspired by the large colony of rare lesser horseshoe bats that roost in the Caves through winter; this is currently the largest lesser horseshoe bat colony hibernating in the UK. The installations highlight how both humans and bats use sound. Hopefully it will help visitors appreciate these often ignored, misunderstood and incredibly interesting, wild animals.
The central feature is a standing wave; a sound system plays a single pure note resonating around the cavern, where you are encouraged to move about and experience the space. Listen to the way the sound changes in relation to the cavern and your position within it. Moving, listening and understanding the way in which sound changes and its relationship to the rock, gives us a glimpse of the way that bats navigate, using only sound.
There are other sound installations in the caves, revealing complex bat voices, as well as archive recordings of iron miners, discussing their experiences, working underground in this mine, well over 70 years ago.
VENUE HIRE FOR YOUR EVENT
Try as hard as you might you’ll struggle to find a venue as memorable, as magical and as utterly unique as Clearwell Caves. Give your guests and your occasion the grandeur and beauty it deserves; make our caverns the incredible backdrop to your special event.
LOCATION HIRE FOR TV & FILM
A place this otherworldly, this unique, this historic, this mysterious and atmospheric, makes it ideal for anything filmed underground. Easy access and flat flooring through each cavern, there are 240V electrical sockets throughout, to help with setting up. Recently we have hosted crews from His Dark Materials, Britannia, Dr Who, Merlin, The Chronicles of Narnia, Da Vinci’s Demons, Time Team… and more through the years, each having a vastly different look. Ample vehicle parking.
