Langwith Cave

Reasons for Designation

Palaeolithic caves and rock shelters provide some of the earliest evidence of human activity in the period from about 400,000 to 10,000 years ago. The sites, all natural topographic features, occur mainly in hard limestone in the north and west of the country, although examples also exist in the softer rocks of south-east England. Evidence for human occupation is often located near the cave entrances, close to the rock walls or on the exterior platforms. The interiors sometimes served as special areas for disposal and storage or were places where material naturally accumulated from the outside. Because of the special conditions of deposition and preservation, organic and other fragile materials often survive well and in stratigraphic association. Caves and rock shelters are therefore of major importance for understanding this period. Due to their comparative rarity, their considerable age and their longevity as a monument type, all examples with good survival of deposits are considered to be nationally important.

The Palaeolithic caves of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire belong to a major regional group of which the monument at Langwith is an important example due to the survival of extensive deposits both inside and outside the cave.

Details

Langwith Cave is situated on the north side of the Poulter Valley, some 6m above the valley floor and no more than two metres below the road above. It consists of a small circular chamber measuring c.7m x c.6m with a number of passages leading off. Two of these, to the west and north, connect with the surface. The cave has produced Neolithic material, in the form of a human burial and a small fragment of an infants skull, but its main significance lies in the Later Upper Palaeolithic remains. Partial excavations carried out between 1903 and 1912 by E.H. Mullins, and in 1927 by D.A.E. Garrod, have revealed numerous flint artefacts from the lowest horizon within the cave, including curved-back and angle-back points. In addition bones of cold climate fauna, including reindeer and woolly rhinoceros, were recovered and there is structural evidence from the lowest horizon within the cave in the form of several hearths. Unexcavated portions remain inside the cave, towards the back of the south-west passages, and significant quantities of material are anticipated to survive in the lower of the two western passages. The important lowest horizon is known to have extended well outside the cave where substantial talus deposits have been left largely undisturbed by excavation. The monument includes all the deposits of the interior of the cave and outside the cave includes an area of 6m radius around the mouth of the cave.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

13239

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Campbell, J B, The Upper Palaeolithic of Britain, (1977)
Mullins, E H, The Ossiferous Cave at Langwith, (1913)
Ford, T D, Gill, D W, Caves of Derbyshire, (1984)
Jenkinson, R D S, Creswell Crags: Late Pleistocene Sites in the East Midlands, (1984)

Other
Copy, Creswell Crags Visitor Centre, Garrod, D A E, Report of Excavs at Langwith Cave, Derbyshire, April 1927, (1927)

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.