ANCIENT HOMES CARVED INTO RUGGED CLIFFS
A walk along Kinver Edge reveals caves in sandstone layers which became home to generations of workers
ALEAF SWAYS GENTLY as it drifts to the ground beneath a large birch tree. Those that still cling to the branches glow yellow and gold in the autumn sunshine.
Through a gap in the woodland is the rich red of a sandstone cliff, complementing the seasonal light. Yet it is the small cottage at the base of this cliff that most catches the eye; not just for its bright, whitewashed walls, arched porch, and grass-green window shutters, but for the fact that it sits in the rock itself.
This is Martindale Caves: one of several houses built into cliffs on the slopes of Kinver Edge, close to the border between Staffordshire and Worcestershire. The cottage forms part of Holy Austin
Rock Houses; a primitive tower block, with three levels, which was home to 11 families and approximately 50 people at its peak. Some were still living there as recently as the 1960s, making them the last troglodytes in England.
The houses are now in the care of the National Trust, as is the woodland and heathland around it; the latter being an important and increasingly rare habitat, where the purple from the carpet of heather is still visible this late in the year.
A 3-mile walk around Kinver Edge reveals the interesting flora and fauna that live on what was once a desert, and how this geology enabled dozens of families to literally dig out homes for themselves, living ordinary lives in extraordinary surroundings. The route mostly follows the purple arrows of the Rock House Trail, along good, broad paths, but is reasonably steep in places.
Carved from stone
Starting the walk from the roadside car park on Compton Road, a broad, ivy-lined path leads to Holy Austin Rock Houses. Passing beneath Martindale Caves, the first dwelling reached is known as Fletcher’s Cottage, after the family who lived there at the turn of the 20th century. As with its neighbour, the facade is whitewashed up to a clearly-defined point, where the cliff takes over once more. A
brick chimney squeezes up between a gap in the sandstone, while a wooden well sits in front of the house; a reconstruction of the only water supply residents at this level had for many years.
Fletcher’s Cottage is the end terrace of what would have been three dwellings, each with their own front door, but all connected by internal passageways. The far door is locked, as this house is now home to a colony of rare Lesser Horseshoe bats. Entry for visitors is through the middle door into what is known as ‘the ballroom’; a large, dark, empty cavern. It is suddenly much cooler: the warm midday sun cannot penetrate here, save for a small window near the door and a brick-sized hole at the back where a chimney would have been.
This dimly-lit chamber is just bright enough to see roots in the cracks overhead, where gorse and heather anchor themselves to the roof of the rock. Also visible are marks where partition walls once were; this being three rooms before the last family who lived here knocked it through.
After experiencing this sizeable, echoey place, there is a surprising contrast when a low tunnel leads to a small, rather cosy bedroom. With its red-tiled floor, dressing table, fireplace, rugs and beds, everything feels so normal, it could be easy to forget that this is still a cave. But examining the whitewashed walls closely reveals hundreds, if not thousands, of little marks. These are from the picks that would have been used to hollow out the sandstone and create this living space.
It is not known who were the first to call these caves home. Unlike many typical National Trust properties, these were not houses for nobility. They were meant for everyday folk, who worked the local farms and iron works. Subsequently, information about those who lived here is scant.
It is thought that quarry workers, who were digging out the sandstone, may have been the first to realise that the caves provided good shelter. At one point, they were a hermitage, which could have been the origin of the name Holy Austin. However, the first official records of habitation were circa 1700.
Desirable area
By the Victorian era, they were considered desirable, as the rooms could be made larger and ceilings higher than workers’ housing at the time, and they were out
in the fresh air, as opposed to the soot-clad industrial towns nearby.
When walking through the bespoke wooden door from the bedroom to the living area, another benefit of these homes is immediately apparent. The range has heated the room wonderfully; a task it performs with ease, even during winter, as the cave is an excellent insulator. The fire provides a smoky tinge to the air, which is noticeable, but far from overpowering.
The room feels homely and normal. A teapot, cups and saucers sit on a round table, draped in a white tablecloth. Linen is hanging out to dry on a wooden airer. A metal bathtub hangs up by the fire, while on the mantelpiece sits a pipe, a lantern and a picture, painted by Alfred Rushton in 1901, of Mr and Mrs Fletcher sitting in this very room.
This painting shows the elderly couple relaxing at the table after a meal, with a fire blazing, and it helped determine how the National Trust laid out the room. Even the small mirror that hangs by the door is never straight because it happened to be on a tilt in the picture; possibly to the dismay of the Fletchers.
Out the front door and around the corner is the entrance to Martindale Caves. Whereas the previous house resembles the Victorian era, this one is dedicated to the 1930s. A roaring fire, candles and flickering lanterns provide lighting, while the curiously angled chimney flues through gaps in the rock show that nothing would get in the way of having a fire in every room.
Back outside, a flight of steps leads from the bottom-level rock houses to sealed-off arches and caves, heavily weathered, and no more than 4ft (1.2m) high. At one time, they too would have been dwellings, but they are slowly eroding, and visitors can see the process of change. Their diminutive stature shows how much rock has been lost; gradually raising the level of the sandy floor. Solitary bees also contribute to the erosion: the tiny holes visible in the surface are where they burrow into the rock.
Saved from ruin
Though considered an agreeable place to live in the Victorian era, Holy Austin rock caves were seen as much less appealing by the 1950s, as there was no electricity or flushing toilets, although gas and water were eventually supplied after the well had run dry. The authorities ordered the remaining residents to leave, whether they wished to or not, and they were rehomed in council housing.
After this, the caves degraded, in no small part due to the vandalism and all-night parties they endured. But the Trust began to restore the properties, and the first redevelopment was completed in 1993. These were brick-fronted cottages built into the rock at the upper level, where a tea room had operated until 1967. In keeping with this, the National Trust has
“She picked out a nice dry cave, instead of a heap of wet leaves, to lie down in; and she strewed clean sand on the floor; and she lit a nice fire”
Rudyard Kipling, Just So Stories
set up its own tea room here in one of the rebuilt cottages.
On fine days, tables and chairs are laid over a terrace, with views over Kinver village and the surrounding countryside. Behind the terrace, and next to the café itself, is another series of caves, arches and passageways that would not seem out of place in northern Africa.
This is because the red rock is actually compacted sand from the dunes of a 250-million-year-old desert. In the ceilings of these caves, there are clear swirls showing the layers of sand that blew here and compressed, creating the escarpment we know today as Kinver Edge.
Hillside view
Following the purple arrows, an undulating walk from the rock houses leads through a woodland of oak and
birch, two species that thrive in the acidic sandy soil. Rowan and holly also do well here, and winter migrants, such as redwing, arrive this month to feast on the juicy red berries found on both species. The wood was once part of the Royal Forest, where monarchs would go hunting, though most of what is visible today has grown up over the past 75 years.
Upon reaching a war memorial, another broad path leads gently uphill to the top of the ridge. On the way up, an earth mound appears to the left. It continues for approximately 219 yards (200m) before bending right; essentially boxing in a square-shaped bulk of land that plummets sharply to the north and west. These are the remains of an iron age hill fort, where the first habitation is thought to have been even earlier. The mounds are ramparts, while depressions made by roundhouses are just about visible in winter, when the grass is at its shortest.
The fort was close to the border of two major tribes; a boundary that still exists today between Staffordshire and Worcestershire. Climbing to the summit today is well worthwhile for the near-360-degree views. Where the land drops suddenly, north-west of the ridge, the birch trees below create a stunning blanket of yellow at this time of year. Further afield, rolling farmland gives way to the distant Shropshire Hills beyond. East of Kinver Edge is its namesake village of Kinver, while the colours of autumn extend for miles along tree-lined valleys and wooded ridges.
In 1917, some 156 acres of Kinver Edge were donated to the National Trust for people to visit and enjoy. The rock houses were already becoming part of the attraction, and residents would sell tea and cake to the visitors. At this time, there was even a light railway taking passengers to Kinver village from Amblecote, in Dudley, and Stourbridge. Kinver was known as ‘The Switzerland of the Midlands’, and in summer holidays, thousands might descend on this little community. Today, there are a great number of benches here
along the edge, dedicated to loved ones, suggesting this is a place that has touched the heart of the community for years.
Rich in wildlife
Turning left to follow the ridge, the summit is soon reached, marked with a trig point. The heathland, meanwhile, continues down the gentle slope to the left. It provides a wonderful environment for moths, including the Angle-striped Sallow and Archer’s Dart, and butterflies and wild flowers in summer, and is also popular with reptiles, such as Adders and common lizards. In autumn, the habitat glows as the bracken turns red, and the heather keeps some of the purple that blooms so brightly in late summer.
As the weather cools, the centre of the thick gorse bushes retain heat, creating a mild microclimate that becomes a magnet for goldcrests, which feed off the insects, spiders, butterflies and moths that tuck themselves deep inside the prickly plants to avoid the winter chill.
Yellowhammers and linnets might also be seen tucking into gorse seeds that lie scattered after having popped in the summer heat.
Throughout the UK, heathland is under threat and needs to be maintained to survive. The National Trust uses
John Milton, ‘Il Penseroso’
English Longhorn cattle as part of its armoury. When they graze the land, they clear the way for smaller plants to grow, while their trampling releases heather seeds. The charity has recently acquired neighbouring Blakeshall Common; a conifer plantation, from which it plans to create more heathland to hopefully encourage nightjars and more woodlarks to settle in the area.
After continuing along the ridge, a right turn at a four-way junction leaves the purple trail down through woodland. The trees are well spread, offering regular glimpses of the rolling landscapes beyond and light and space for bracken to grow.
“And may at last my weary age Find out the peaceful hermitage”
Nanny’s Rock
Soon after rejoining the purple waymarkers, Nanny’s Rock appears on the right-hand side. This natural cave is the earliest known inhabited home at Kinver Edge. It was home to a woman named Meg, who is thought to have been some kind of healer, but there is very little known about her, other than the fact that she died in 1617.
There are few clues to the past life of Nanny’s Rock now. Despite what is known as Devil’s Chimney, evidence of a fireplace and holes for where doors used to hang, it is very much a cave. Inside are several caverns separated in part by natural walls, carved from top to bottom in graffiti.
It is a peaceful spot, overlooking birch woodland. Throughout the forest, these trees attract a variety of fungi at this time of year, such as the fairy tale-like fly agaric, with its white-spotted red cap. Elsewhere, sulphur cap is a vibrant yellow, while hoof fungi lives on the deadwood of birch trees, looking rather like coral.
Further along, trees have been cleared from either side of the undulating path. This is done to bring more sunlight to the woodland floor, enabling a broader range of plant life to grow, which attract butterflies. The technique has already seen the return of the White Admiral.
Restored gardens
Once back at the rock houses, it is possible to explore their gardens and orchards, which have also been restored to produce much of the food for the tea room. Apples are abundant in autumn, and the National Trust holds an annual Apple Weekend, when visitors can try out apple pressing.
Sitting on the terrace with a fruit scone is a wonderful way to finish and to contemplate the ingenuity of those who saw these soft, yet solid, sandstone cliffs and managed to carve a new life for themselves in the clean air and tranquil surroundings of Kinver Edge.