King Arthur's Cave (Grid Reference SO545155; map and satellite photograph) is situated above the River Wye below Doward Park Campsite, near Whitchurch in Herefordshire. There are two chambers in the limestone face, each extending back about 10m and sharing a common entrance. Past excavations have revealed bones of cave bear, woolly rhinoceros and hyena, evidence of Mesolithic occupation, as well as finds of Bronze Age, Roman, Medieval and Post Mediaeval date.

The association with King Arthur is said by some to have come via the discovery in the caves of a large skeleton with a spear in 1695, while others link the find with the British prince, Vortigern.

The River Wye

Iron workings

The wooded Wye Valley loops near Symonds Yat are part of the Forest of Dean area of iron ore deposits, which have been worked from the Iron Age until the late 20th century. the woods provided fuel for iron smelting and forging, and hte river provided power for machinery (coal production in the area was not significant until the 18th century). Iron oxide ore was also collected for making pigments.

The wooded slopes down to the River Wye are covered with the remains of early iron working (iron slag is visible), some dating back to the Iron Age, although early wworkigs have been heavily disturbed by miners revisiting them in the 18th and 19th centuries.

King Arthur's Cave

Our first stop was King Arthur's cave. The cave's current ground level is now much lower than it once was owing to it having been dug out by the later miners and by antiquarians, Victorian archaeologists having blasted the cave with dynamite in order to open it up for easier investigation and in the 1990s, the cave was re-excavated. A hearth dating to about 10,000BC was discovered just outside the cave and although no human remains were found, flints and butchered horse bones from the last glacial and post-glacial periods provide strong evidence of occupation.

Tufa

After visiting the cave, we walked through the woods, passing a limestone quarry, towards Biblins foresty bridge. In cliffs near the bridge were tufa deposits, formed by precipitation from calcium-rich water.

Tufa was used for ceilings in mediaeval cathedrals as it can be cut and carved when wet, but it dries light and strong.

Weirs on the Wye

We paused at the site of the New Weir. Documented from 1212, weirs were built on the Wye to supply heads of water to power the iron smelting mills and forges, and were important to fishing

They were controversial, as there were conflicts between the needs of industry and the needs of river navigation. Barge owners and Hereford merchants complained to the Crown and in 1589, commissioners were sent to dismantle the weirs. The large New Weir was rebuilt on the 1680s to power the New Weir Ironworks and was rthe only weir to survive the next round of weir demolition in 1695 through the owner agreeing to build a lock in it and pay a resident lock keeper.

After lunch at Symonds Yat East, we crossed back over the Wye on a hand-pull rope ferry and walked back through the remains of an iron works - probably a water-powered blast furnace complex.