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Also known as the Devil's Arse, Peak Cavern is a show cave at Castleton in the Peak District.
The approach to Peak Cavern is dramatic, with a path leading between cottages in the village up a deep limestone gorge at the head of which the satanic orifice comes in to view. The enterance itself is massive, its lofty space having once sheltered a ropeworks and even cottages of cave dwelling troglodyte workers who lived on the site.
Famous visitors to the cave have included Lord Byron and the philosopher Thomas Hobbes, who was sufficiently impressed to list it as one of his "Wonders of the Peak". Back in those days the cave was entered by boat, visitors being ferried in up the River Styx at its point of debouchure.
Beyond the show cave passages have been discovered which connect with nearby Speedwell Cavern. In 1999 cavers exploring these systems discovered "Titan" - an enormous shaft which had been rumoured to exist from historical records and anecdotes of miners working in the area. To date this is believed to be the largest known natural underground chamber (at least in terms of measured vertical height) so far discovered in the British Isles.
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