Crailing

NT62SE 8 6856 2411.

Caves, Crailing (Sites). About 1860 a group of from eight to ten caves was discovered, cut into the red sandstone cliff on the left bank of the Oxnam Water, a quarter of a mile SW of Crailing House. All but one of these caves have since been destroyed by erosion, and the following account is taken from a description made a year or two after their discovery. (D M Home 1863).

The caves, which were sited in line about half-way up the cliff, varied in size but were generally 9ft to 10ft high, 12ft to 14ft wide, and 10ft to 12ft long. In a few cases, where the caves were contiguous, there were remains of rough walls built of whinstone boulders as if to separate them and contract the entrances. Several caves contained socket-holes for timbers; some of these, placed near the entrances, suggested an arrangement for doors, while others, situated half-way up the walls, may have supported tiers of beds or shelves. One of the larger caves was thought to have been a stable since there was a rudimentary gutter in the floor which discharged over the cliff, and socket-holes in the floor and ceiling were large enough to have held posts suitable for tethering horses or cattle. Black blotches, probably caused by fire, were observed on some of the walls and floors. The relics found in the caves comprised an iron spur with the remains of a star-shaped rowel, an iron knife-blade, a clay tobacco-pipe, a piece of a horn hair-comb, an ivory ring, horses' teeth, a horn and the leg-bone of a sheep, and some pieces of burnt wood. These relics, formerly kept at Crailing House, have not been preserved, but the tobacco-pipe cannot be earlier than the 17th century. Occupatin of the caves in the 18th century is less likely since there is no reference to them in the Old Statistical Account, and there was no tradition of their existence in 1860.

RCAHMS 1956, visited 25 September 1947.

Centred NT 6856 2411 Two caves, as described by the RCAHMS. Towards the top of the cliff is one cave, 1.7m wide by 3.0m long and 2.0m high, set at the back of a small level platform. Two contiguous hollows cut into the cliff immediately south of this cave are probably the 'backs' of another two caves. Some 8.0m to the NE of this group, and at a slightly lower level, is an almost similar group. Here the cave is 2.5m wide, 3.6m long and 3.0m high, the entrance being only 1.0m wide. This cave is also set at the back of a small platform. To the north and south of the cave's entrance are three hollows cut into the cliff (one to the north, the others to the south) which probably represent the 'backs' of yet another three caves.

Surveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS(WDJ) 17 January 1967.