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Felix Farley's Journal - July 1837

 

In surveying St. Vincent's Rock from the banks of the Avon, a strong feeling of curiosity is excited by observing the mouth of a cavern, in an inaccessible situation which has been usually distinguished by the name of Ghyston Cave, or the Giant's Hole. The legend upon which the appellation is founded is thus recorded in Atkyns' History of Gloucestershire :- “Before the port of Bristol was settled in Frome River, there seems to have been a dispute, whether a place called Sea-mills was not as convenient a port as a the other, several large and small ships having been built there. This occasioned the extravagant fabulous story concerning St. Vincent and Goram, whom the story makes mighty giants, and that they contended which way the rivers Avon and Foom should vent themselves into the Severn : if the port of Sea-mills had been more convenient, then Goram prevailed, because his hermitage was at Westbury, on the side of the brook Trim, which runs to Sea-mills. But the port of Froom being thought more advantageous, therefore the miracle relates that St. Vincent clave the rocks asunder, and so gave passage to the rivers, because those rocks derive their name from a chapel there, dedicated to that saint' - William Wyrcestre, in his description of this rock, invariably denominates it ‘Ghyston Cliff'. The cave, which he states to have been the retreat of e religious recluse, it is now ascertained to be situate at a depth of 88 feet from the summit of the rock, and at a height of 220 feet from high water mark, making the entire measurement of the rock 308 feet. - Until within a few years since, access was obtained to the cave by means of a narrow ledge of rock a few feet below the entrance, but the way was considered so dangerous that it was removed, as the means of preventing accidents of a fatal nature : an entrance has been subsequently effected, in a few instances, but not without extreme peril. With the view, however, to gratify the curiosity of the public, Mr West, of the Clifton Observatory, about two years since, conceived the idea of effecting access to the cave from the summit of the rock, and he immediately commenced the undertaking. From that time to the present workmen have been constantly employed, at an expense of £300, in forming a passage, by blasting the rock; and which, after penetrating through an extent upwards of 200 feet, to a depth of 90 feet, it is now accomplished. On Saturday the 10th day of June, the cave was first entered by this means. The new circular flight of stone steps is first descended to a depth of 35feet; the passage then proceeds on an inclined plane, for about 130 feet through solid rock; and another flight of steps to a depth of 30 feet, leads to the eastern end of the cave. In Mr West's examination of the cavern, some articles were discovered, which, though intrinsically valueless, may still tend to elucidate molding of which, though simple, are in some instances extremely good - insomuch as to induce a belief that they are of Roman origin. A large square glazed tile, such as has been found in the pavement of the choirs of ancient churches, was also among the fragments. Lying over them was a portion of a mullion of a small gothic window, or probably of a tabernacle or shrine. The whole of these relics were carefully embedded under a large flat stone, which was discovered on removing an accumulation of earth and weeds from the surface of the cave. - The following extract from an article on the cavern, published in 1835, in the West of England Journal of Science and Literature, and copied in this paper at the time gives a good description of this natural curiosity :

 

     “The Giant's Cave, so called from some fabulous tradition, is contained within the upper beds of the carboniferous limestone, these dipping south east at 23°; and forming St. Vincent's Rock. The cavern opens upon the precipitous escarpment of the rock, at the height of about 250 feet above the river, and 50 0r 60 below and to the west of the observatory. A rude and broken ledge extends from the north eastern summit of the rock, downwards, to within about 20 feet of the opening, across which space none but an expert craigsman would venture to pass.

 

     The entrance to the cave is abrupt; it is in the form of a rudely arched portal, 10 feet high by 13 broad, and perfectly level at the bottom. Upon entering, the breadth remains nearly the same for some distance; but after advancing for 9 feet, the roof rises suddenly, and, loosing its semicircular form resembles the commencement of a fissure, but stops at a height of 18 feet. At 20 feet from the entrance, the cave suddenly becomes narrower, and divides into three cavities; of these the longest and the lowest, is the continuation of the line of the great cave; it retains nearly the same width, but the floor descends about 4 feet, and the roof, gradually curving downwards, terminates the cavity somewhat abruptly, at a distance of 49 feet south east from the great entrance. The two other cavities are smaller than the last; they lie, one above the other, on the western side; the lower one, about six feet from the ground, and about six feet high, being separated from the upper one, which closely resembles it, by a roof of rock. These other two cavities opening, the one a little above the floor, and the other almost on a level with the roof, after passing on a few feet backwards, unite to form a passage, which being 3 feet wide by 3 high, ascends gently, in a straight line, 28 feet. This passage is very dark and its floor, like that of the rest of the cave, is covered with soil, through which the rock now and then appears. Upon its western side, a foot before its sudden termination in a cul-de-sac, is a small orifice 1½ feet wide by 2½ high, which opens immediately into a small and nearly circular chamber, about 3 feet high by 5 feet diameter, and much resembling, both in size, shape and temperature, an oven. In the north-western side of this chamber, which cannot be above a yard from the exterior of the western face of the rock, are two fissures, one of which is occupied by the root and part of the stem of a large ivy tree; and the other too small to be entered, but shewed a glimpse of the day-light.

 

     The floor of the cave is strewed with earth and decomposed animal and vegetable matter, in some places to a depth of 3 feet. Below this, the rock is covered with a layer of stalagmite, masses of which were removed wit a pickaxe, but were not found to contain any bones. The walls and roofs are incrusted with a similar deposit, not descending in regular stalactites, but forming as is frequently the case, an incrustation of about an inch thick.'