Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
Caucasus - Geghard Monastery, Armenia
Armenia • 15 days, 14 nights
Caucasus Road Trip: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Al Jazirah Al Hamra Heritage Village
Complejo Cultural Fábrica Imbabura
Guptill's Arena
In this deceptively simple dish, top-quality ingredients are paramount.
Kor Panich
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
In this deceptively simple dish, top-quality ingredients are paramount.
Kor Panich
Customize your bowl with sliced pork, pork balls, fish cake, and offal.
Rung Rueang
Pasties are an Upper Michigan tradition dating back to mining days.
Lehto’s Pasties
Stock up on picnic supplies with a side of history.
Horton Bay General Store
Take some of Michigan’s produce home with you.
American Spoon
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Podcast: Finding ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Louisville
about 16 hours ago
Here’s which treats you can safely lug home without risking a fine.
Dear Atlas: What International Food Can I Legally Bring Into the U.S.?
2 days ago
Cely’s map is not only accurate, but captures the unique characteristics of Congaree’s trees and waterways.
How One Biologist Drew a Hyper-Accurate, Ranger-Approved Map of Congaree National Park
3 days ago
Though they’re protected inside the park, wolves can be killed when they cross its borders.
Wolves Have a Bad Reputation. One Yellowstone Naturalist Is Trying to Fix It.
3 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United Kingdom England Caynton Caynton Caves

Caynton Caves

This mysterious underground cave in Shropshire dates back to the 18th or 19th century.

Caynton, England

Added By
Peppe Spadone
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
The caves have a network of walkways and chambers.   Richard Law/CC BY-SA 2.0
The caves have a network of walkways and chambers.   Richard Law/CC BY-SA 2.0
Entrance to the cave   Richard Law/CC BY-SA 2.0
Carvings on the walls - some ancient and some modern.   Richard Law/CC BY-SA 2.0
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

It’s easy to miss if you don’t know where it is, but an innocuous-looking rabbit hole in Shropshire, holds the entrance to an intriguing cave, which legend has it was built and used by the mysterious Knights Templar for their secret rituals. But there's no concrete evidence to link this site with the 12th-century religious military order and many experts have refuted the accuracy of this rumor. 

The mysterious cave system is intriguing nonetheless. The caves, which appear largely untouched, are located on the grounds of Caynton Hall and contain a network of walkways and arches beautifully carved out of sandstone. Spelunkers may need to crawl through some particularly narrow chambers to fully explore the tunnel. Walking (or crawling) through the caves, you can see niches created for candles and symbols drawn on the walls and roofs, and deep within the cave is a font, a stone structure used to hold water for baptisms. 

The Caynton cave site is listed as a grotto, an artificial cave, on the Historic England site, which also dates it to the late 18th or early 19th century. It was sealed off in 2012 when vandals were misusing the space. It is on private land, and it may be inaccessible.

Related Tags

Caves Mystery Catholic Religion Ecosystems Sacred Spaces

Community Contributors

Added By

peppespadone

Edited By

SiriJR, Greg Jones, MagnumPI, Abacus...

  • SiriJR
  • Greg Jones
  • MagnumPI
  • Abacus
  • michael22
  • Kavya Ram Mohan

Published

March 9, 2017

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3029431/rabbit-hole-holds-incredible-secret/#comments
  • http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-39193347
  • https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1367600
  • http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4289774/Secret-underground-world-Knights-Templar-Shropshire.html
  • http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1391862
Caynton Caves
Caynton, England, TF11 9JQ
United Kingdom
52.623672, -2.329955

Nearby Places

The Hay Inclined Plane

Telford and Wrekin, England

miles away

St Michael's Church & the Nine Men of Madeley

Madeley, England

miles away

The Frog Clock

Telford, England

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of England

England

United Kingdom

Places 2,199
Stories 144

Nearby Places

The Hay Inclined Plane

Telford and Wrekin, England

miles away

St Michael's Church & the Nine Men of Madeley

Madeley, England

miles away

The Frog Clock

Telford, England

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of England

England

United Kingdom

Places 2,199
Stories 144

Related Places

  • The fresco in the mithraeum at Santa Maria Capua Vetere.

    Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Italy

    Mithraeum at Santa Maria Capua Vetere

    The underground sanctuary of a mysterious ancient Roman religious cult contains an exquisite traditional fresco.

  • Cave of Saint Ignatius

    Manresa, Spain

    Cave of Saint Ignatius

    The grotto where Saint Ignatius of Loyola lived as a hermit for nearly a year.

  • The altar inside the hermitage.

    Caramanico Terme, Italy

    Eremo di San Giovanni all'Orfento (Hermitage of Saint John all'Orfento)

    You can only access this hermitage by crawling under a ledge suspended above an overhang.

  • Hermitage of Saint Sava

    Savovo, Serbia

    Hermitage of Saint Sava

    This mesmerizing medieval monastery-cave complex sits thousands of feet above ground overlooking a valley.

  • Inside the Son Bhandar Caves.

    Rajgir, India

    Son Bhandar Caves

    A pair of mysterious, unusually polished cave temples with an ancient gold legend.

  • Wilderness, South Africa

    Kaaimans Grotto

    This cave overlooking the Indian Ocean has been turned into a shelter and makeshift museum.

  • Cave close-up.

    Elefsina, Greece

    Plutonian Cave of Eleusis

    According to legend, this cavern holds the passage that Persephone used to travel to and from the underworld.

  • David’s Waterfall

    Ein Gedi, Israel

    David Waterfall

    The tallest waterfall in the Judean Desert is named for its connection to a biblical figure.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.