Creswell Crags
An Ice Age cave site in a limestone gorge, home to Britain's only known Palaeolithic cave art and many 'witch marks' carved on its walls.
Creswell Crags is a small limestone gorge. Caves on both sides have yielded tools used by Neanderthals and modern humans between roughly 50,000 and 10,000 years ago, along with bones of mammoths and hyenas. In 2003, animal engravings from about 13,000 years ago were found in Church Hole, Britain's only known Ice Age cave art. In 2019, more than a thousand medieval 'witch marks', protective carvings, were discovered in the same cave. The museum and gorge walks are free, while cave tours require a ticket. The site lies about 45 km from Nottingham.
Opening hours
About 10:00–17:00 (shorter hours in winter)
Nearby sights
- Clumber Park
- Sherwood Forest & Major Oak
- Sherwood Pines Forest Park
- Rufford Abbey Country Park
- Newstead Abbey
- D. H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum
- Southwell Minster
- Old Market Square & Council House