AN OCCASION LIKE NOTHING ON EARTH
(BECAUSE IT’S LITERALLY BELOW THE EARTH)
Due to Corona Virus restrictions to keep visitors and staff safe we are unable to run concerts and theatre events at the moment. Throughout the year we normally run many and varied events, including watching films underground, caving, theatrical events, and even parties in our amazing cave complex. The caves also make an incredible and unusual filming location. We will post exciting new events when we are able to run them, most probably next year.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Christmas at Clearwell Caves 2020
4th – 24th December 2020
We are happy to announce that our much loved Christmas event will begin on 4th December! Online booking is essential as tickets are very limited.
As we have been busily creating our unique displays, our ideas have had to adapt to coincide with changing circumstances and government guidelines. This means we have made alterations to the event; the underground stalls and takeaway cafe are now relocated above ground, in our outside marquees; we have new scenes decorating the cavern where they used to be!
Things are a little different this year… you wander through a magical underground forest, spotting woodland animals preparing for their special Christmas Day! Caverns are filled with twinkling lights and beautiful displays, as you explore the caverns to find the animals amongst the trees. As your journey continues through the woodland, you will see Father Christmas with his helpers, ready to greet you as he warms himself by his fireplace. As you leave the Cave, children (2-12) each receive a special present from Father Christmas – a Christmas mug, designed by the event artist, containing a yummy hot chocolate stirrer and some beautifully designed stickers. The perfect way to remember a hopefully unique Christmas! Outside, we have festive stalls, selling beautiful stocking fillers and decorations, as well as a takeaway café, selling tasty cakes and hot drinks.
We are very grateful to the Department of Culture and Heritage Fund, for their grant this year, helping towards setting up the event and without which it would not have been possible.
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 displays. Whilst Father Christmas will have left, you still walk through beautiful displays and can enjoy delicious refreshments from our outside takeaway cafe.
Opening times: 27th – 31st December, 10am – 3pm (last entry)
Spot the Hidden Pumpkins
24th October – 1st November 2020
Thank you all for supporting the Caves during this difficult time.
Just to let you know that there were 49 pumpkins, cunningly concealed throughout the Caves during your visit.
The lucky winner, out of the 83 correct entries, was Ryan aged 8, from London. We are contacting you by email for the address to send the handmade Bat mug and goodies.
Out of interest for those checking, a lot of people got 47 and 48 pumpkins. The highest entry was 70 pumpkins and the lowest was 32 pumpkins!
Many thanks to everyone who entered the competition.
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.
