# Underground sanctuary in Shropshire - said to be used by the Knights Templar



## Biskit (Mar 8, 2017)

Just saw this on the BBC website - the photos are quite amazing:

Rabbit hole leads to 700-year-old Knights Templar cave - BBC News


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## Brian G Turner (Mar 9, 2017)

Elizabeth Chadwick just said on Twitter that this is a Victorian folly, and linked to it's official description here:
GROTTO AT SJ 7756 0290 - 1367600| Historic England


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## Boneman (Mar 9, 2017)

Spoilsport, she is... I liked the Knight's Templar cave, myself!


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## Biskit (Mar 9, 2017)

Oh well, fun whilst it lasted.  And it still looks pretty fantastic.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Mar 9, 2017)

It was more fun as a Templar cave, but actually it's sort of fun either way.  Who better than ourselves to appreciate someone wanting to have a mysterious cave with magical and religious associations built under their property?

I'd have one in a flash if I could afford it (and had the space and could get the permits)!


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## Biskit (Mar 9, 2017)

Teresa Edgerton said:


> I'd have one in a flash if I could afford it (and had the space and could get the permits)!



Got the space, but that underground business might be tricky as we're on granite.  If you enquire about making holes in the ground here, people start talking about the right quantity of explosives to use.


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## mosaix (Mar 10, 2017)

About five miles from where I live. I'd be gobsmacked if the Knights Templar ever came near the area.

The whole of this area is sandstone. There are caves in my town that were inhabited until about 100 years ago. There's a plaque that says so.


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## 2DaveWixon (Mar 10, 2017)

I'm rather sad to hear what this really turned out to be -- when I first saw the name of this thread, my mind immediately went to the Geoffrey Household novel *Rogue Male* -- has anyone read that one?
Excellent thriller from about 1939 (I understand they're working on a new film version, to star Benedict Cumberbatch; there has already been a 1941 film, and a later BBC series, but I haven't seen either of those.)


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## mosaix (Mar 10, 2017)

2DaveWixon said:


> I'm rather sad to hear what this really turned out to be -- when I first saw the name of this thread, my mind immediately went to the Geoffrey Household novel *Rogue Male* -- has anyone read that one?
> Excellent thriller from about 1939 (I understand they're working on a new film version, to star Benedict Cumberbatch; there has already been a 1941 film, and a later BBC series, but I haven't seen either of those.)


Read it last year after hearing a serialised version on BBC Radio 4 Extra. Great book - compelling. I think I may have discussed it elsewhere on Chrons.


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## Danny McG (Mar 10, 2017)

2DaveWixon said:


> I'm rather sad to hear what this really turned out to be -- when I first saw the name of this thread, my mind immediately went to the Geoffrey Household novel *Rogue Male* -- has anyone read that one?
> Excellent thriller from about 1939 (I understand they're working on a new film version, to star Benedict Cumberbatch; there has already been a 1941 film, and a later BBC series, but I haven't seen either of those.)



Ditto with me. "Wahey, it's a Rogue Male den!"
Sigh


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## 2DaveWixon (Mar 11, 2017)

dannymcg said:


> Ditto with me. "Wahey, it's a Rogue Male den!"
> Sigh


Alas, the sequel did not work as well...


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## Teresa Edgerton (Mar 11, 2017)

It's interesting, though, that whoever wrote that official description that debunks the Templar myth didn't actually know when or who or how the thing was constructed.  Victorian folly is just a guess (although a very likely one) since it apparently could have been built in the century before that, and who knows for what actual purpose? 

One could build a lot of story ideas around a question like that. (I'm already thinking of a few of those as I write this.)


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## The Judge (Mar 11, 2017)

Ooh, yes -- a meeting hall *ahem* for the Hellfire Club!  (Albeit with all the erotic engravings and statuary now removed.)


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## mosaix (Mar 11, 2017)

If anyone is thinking of visiting those sandstone caves, they can be dangerous.

There are some in the hillside behind my house that used to be open to the public. About six years ago a group of six formers went up there late one night to celebrate their GCSE results. They lit a fire in the cave and after about an hour a slab of the roof came down killing one of them. They're now sealed off.

The inquest ruled that the fire had dried out a section of the sandstone (normally, due to sandstone being so porous, it's damp) so it making it unstable.

Over and above any fire there are always lumps of freshly detached sandstone lying around in the caves that are still accessible.


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## 2DaveWixon (Mar 11, 2017)

mosaix said:


> If anyone is thinking of visiting those sandstone caves, they can be dangerous.
> 
> There are some in the hillside behind my house that used to be open to the public. About six years ago a group of six formers went up there late one night to celebrate their GCSE results. They lit a fire in the cave and after about an hour a slab of the roof came down killing one of them. They're now sealed off.
> 
> ...


We seem to have a very similar situation around here: the bluffs of the Mississippi are honeycombed with caves as the river passes through St. Paul, and we, too, have had people killed by cave-ins.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Mar 11, 2017)

The Judge said:


> Ooh, yes -- a meeting hall *ahem* for the Hellfire Club!



That was one of my thoughts, too.


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## BAYLOR (Mar 18, 2017)

2DaveWixon said:


> I'm rather sad to hear what this really turned out to be -- when I first saw the name of this thread, my mind immediately went to the Geoffrey Household novel *Rogue Male* -- has anyone read that one?
> Excellent thriller from about 1939 (I understand they're working on a new film version, to star Benedict Cumberbatch; there has already been a 1941 film, and a later BBC series, but I haven't seen either of those.)



Never heard of it. But will check it out.


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## Paul_C (Mar 18, 2017)

how about this place then . . . 

Derinkuyu underground city - Wikipedia


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## 2DaveWixon (Mar 18, 2017)

Paul_C said:


> how about this place then . . .
> 
> Derinkuyu underground city - Wikipedia


Yes, I've heard about this...it's mind-boggling: a CITY, fergoshakes!


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