According to the guide book, these caves are allegedly of Phoenician origin although more probably of Thanecian derivation. They are named after Vortigern, a leading 5th century warlord who gave the area to the Saxons as a reward for helping him fight the picts and scots.
They were rediscovered by an eccentric chap called Francis Forster (or his gardener at any rate) in 1798 who cut a private entrance for himself. It was at this time that the coloured murals were created and in doing so, the painted surfaces were smoothed which destroyed much valuable archaeology.
Apparently, there’s a smugglers tunnel (now bricked up) that runs between these caves and the Lido. There is a tunnel leading from the Lido towards the Vortigern caves but to be honest, I didn’t fancy the look of it much so didn’t explore it.
On with the pics:
The way in
“Brackish†well
Scary croc
Cheers for looking.
They were rediscovered by an eccentric chap called Francis Forster (or his gardener at any rate) in 1798 who cut a private entrance for himself. It was at this time that the coloured murals were created and in doing so, the painted surfaces were smoothed which destroyed much valuable archaeology.
Apparently, there’s a smugglers tunnel (now bricked up) that runs between these caves and the Lido. There is a tunnel leading from the Lido towards the Vortigern caves but to be honest, I didn’t fancy the look of it much so didn’t explore it.
On with the pics:
The way in
“Brackish†well
Scary croc
Cheers for looking.
