What about my
cave?
We would like to
survey all the
caves beneath
Nottingham.
If you own a cave
or you know
someone with a
cave, please get
in touch.
Surveying is
painless and free,
and doesn’t take
long.
Your cave is an
important part of
Nottingham’s
history!
Trent & Peak Archaeology / The University of Nottingham
Surveying your cave
If there’s a cave in your garden, or under your house or place of work, we’d like to add it to the
database. Please fill in the form below, or contact us by email, letter, or telephone.
What happens?
The survey team of two University of Nottingham archaeologists would visit you at a time of your
choosing, including evenings and weekends. We would bring all necessary equipment with us.
We would make notes on the condition, size, features of and access to the cave, take photographs
of it, and then survey it with a laser scanner. This is a non-contact survey technique which allows
millions of accurate survey points to be recorded in only a few minutes.
The whole process should take less than an hour for a single cave. You will have full control over
how much detail is publicly accessible through the website.
What counts as a cave?
Good question! We’re counting any man-made cut into the natural sandstone, as long as some
sandstone is visible. So a fully brick-lined cellar we would normally not count, but a brick cellar
with part of one wall showing the natural sandstone we would like to include. If you have exposed
rock in your garden with rooms, cupboards or alcoves cut into it, we’d like to survey that too. And
if your brick cellar or terraced garden looks like it should be surveyed, even if it doesn’t fit those
criteria for a cave, do contact us anyway. We’d be happy to come out and have a look!
Why should I let you in my house?
All Nottingham’s caves are important, not only the famous ones. To know how many there are,
what they all do, how far they extend, and whether your cave is a unique example or is
representative of a type, it needs to be on the database. Recording your cave will help protect not
only that cave but all caves, and help to preserve Nottingham’s unique and fragile resource for
future generations.
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