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EAST SURREY UNDERGROUND by Peter Burgess 2006 121 pp, many photos, maps, surveys etc. SB no ISBN. Available from the author at 8 Trotton Close, Maidenbower, CRAWLEY, West Sussex, RH10 7JP price £9.00 + £1 post and packing. East Surrey is about 30 miles south of London and I was surprised to find that it was once a heavily mined area. In the towns of Dorking, Reigate, and Godstone, there are numerous caverns, dug in order to extract the sand. These have been excavated over the centuries and the sand was used both in the glass industries and as a cleaning agent. It can be spread on the floor and then swept up without leaving a stain. Many a Victorian skivvy was probably very familiar with this sand! Undoubtedly, the most famous cave in the area is the Barons’ Cave at Reigate. This cave has been a local attraction since the late 18th century. Stories have grown around the cave and legend has it that the English barons in AD 1215 met in the cave to draw up the terms of the Magna Carta. A more likely explanation is that the cave was an impressive wine cellar for the Earl of Surrey, Earl de Warenne. The wine was transported in large barrels called `tuns’ each containing up to 1000 litres of wine. Both Barons’ Cave and the Dorking Caves are open to the public. The latter were also used as a wine cellar. Other mines include those in the Firestone and Hearthstone Quarries. Firestone has been used extensively from the Norman period to the present day as a building stone. Its excavation in this locality has left a vast network of mined passages with a surveyed length of 17 km. There has been much confusion between hearthstone and firestone. This is not surprising since both materials were dug from the Upper Greensand beds. The hearthstone was used for whitening stone door steps, hearths and window sills. When rubbed on it dries to a chalky white colour. At the end of the 19th century the firestone mines at Godstone were given a new lease of life. The disused galleries were used as mushroom farms. However, this practice eventually died out in the 1930s as there were difficulties in maintaining the right conditions of temperature, humidity and air flow, plus the risk of infestation from pests. Other man-made sub-surface voids in the area include Fullers Earth mines and Dene Holes. Fullers earth was originally used to degrease woollen fleeces. Today it is used extensively in the chemical and petrochemical industries. Dene Holes are simply chalk mines, the chalk being used for agricultural purposes. Cave explorers will no doubt be interested in the River Mole. A fitting name for a river that flows underground for a comparatively short distance between Dorking and Leatherhead. Although there are numerous sink holes in the river bed no cave passages have yet been entered. This is unusual considering the extensive chalk caves both in Beachy Head and Normandy. To sum up, this is an excellent account of the great variety of underground feature in a small area of south east England. Wartime tunnels, cellars and underground follies add to the variety. It provides a very readable account of these fascinating sites. Peter Burgess is obviously an expert on this area and I found this book a pleasure to read. Informative, amusing and difficult to put down. Highly recommended, and if you are quick it could be an ideal solution for Christmas for the caver who has everything. TO Cheers - Tony Oldham Duncavin 1 Riverside Mews CARDIGAN SA43 1DH United Kingdom http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/~arb/speleo/guides.html http://www.showcaves.com http://www.mike.munro.cwc.net/mining/tony_o/tonyo_hp.htm http://www.showcaves.com/foreign/Big/F003-003.jpg _________________________________________________________________ Be the first to hear what's new at MSN - sign up to our free newsletters! http://www.msn.co.uk/newsletters