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The Gorge & Devils cauldron

This is the deepest gorge in south-west England, and stretches a distance of about 2.5 km (1.5 miles) from the spectacular "Devil's Cauldron" whirlpool at the bridge end to the very fine 30-metres-tall "White Lady Waterfall" at the other end. There are excellent beautiful walks from one end of the Gorge to the other, alongside the River Lyd and on the winding upper path that gives a view steeply down into the Gorge through the very tall and slender trees that stretch upwards to find the light.

The approach to the Devils Cauldron is narrow and slippery, with simply planking giving a spectacular view into the boiling waters - see picture.

Lydford Gorge, with the White Lady Waterfall at its foot, and the aptly-named Cauldron at its head. Swete, looking down into the latter on his visit one day in 1797, wrote in his diary that it “str/uck a terror into my breast and such dizziness in my brain...[that]...shuddering with a mere glance down this frightening abyss ...my blood froze within me”. The water of the River Lyd boiling through the deep chasm of the Cauldron is certainly an awesome spectacle of nature, but whether any modern-day visitors are as overcome by it as was Swete is perhaps somewhat doubtful! - although there is in fact a warning sign within the Gorge itself, telling visitors that the Cauldron is not a sight for those of “nervous disposition”, or words to similar effect.

During the 17th Century Lydford Gorge was infamous for being the hide-out of a large family of outlaws, the Gubbins, who terrorised the neighbourhood and stole sheep from the farms of Dartmoor. In the years at the beginning of the 19th Century during the war against Napoleon of France, Lydford Gorge became, for many travellers, a replacement for the Grand Tour of Continental Europe, and was much appreciated and valued for its grandeur and beauty.


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Last edited June 7, 2006 1:57 pm by DaveF (diff)
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