WCMS

Club Details:

The Wealden Cave & Mine Society was founded in 1967. WCMS differs from many caving groups, for besides its interest in  natural caves, there is a strong interest in  mines and underground stone quarries with an emphasis on the preservation and recording of  industrial history.

Our social focus is in the South East, but we visit all parts of the country where mines or caves can be found, on a more or less regular basis.

The society has had the exclusive use of a stone cottage in South Wales, called “The Stump”, directly above Ogof-Ffynnon-Ddu.

The Stump, WCMS
The Stump, cottage used by WCMS at Penwyllt. Peter Burgess

The society has the responsibility, and pleasure, of running Cave Open Days every summer, in the old market town of Reigate in Surrey.

Our membership includes ‘traditional’ cavers whose main interest is exploring natural caves. In this respect we are much like many other clubs. But we are not just a caving club. We have many mine historians as members and we are proud of the many years of hard work that we have done to study, explore and survey the old mines and tunnels of Surrey. We often say that we go caving in the mines, but it would be more accurate to say that when we do this we are mining historians and archaeologists. It is true that we use caving techniques and equipment to work in the mines safely, but our primary aim there is not to exercise our bodies, but our minds, as we slowly but surely piece together the forgotten stories of these fascinating places.

Our social focus is in the South East, but we visit all parts of the country on a more or less regular basis.

Club Web Site: www.wcms.org.uk

Club News:

Caving club funds new tunnel in Reigate

Reigate has a brand new tunnel, thanks to the efforts of High Peak Geotechnical Ltd., acting on instruction from the Wealden Cave and Mine Society (WCMS). WCMS opens three caves within the centre of Reigate, ...

Caving during a pandemic

This account of a caving holiday in South Wales has no exciting discoveries, no dramatic incidents, and no unusual activities. But we hope Peter Burgess' account of a caving trip to South Wales reminds our ...

Getting some elfy exercise

Chesney the Chipmunk and Valentine the donkey go caving in Reigate. Peter Burgess was there to record the occasion! Cavers do some pretty daft things at times. Spending hours on end in cold gloopy mud, ...

Ritual protection in the Chaldon Quarries – health and safety in the 16th century

Curious chalk inscriptions on the walls of an ancient stone quarry in Surrey are being systematically recorded for the first time as part of a wider research project to better understand the long and hitherto ...

News: Chaldon Quarries, Surrey – Radiocarbon Dating Results

In January 2018, we reported that the Wealden Cave and Mine Society had been awarded the opportunity to get free radiocarbon dating work performed on archaeological samples from the Reigate area. By the end of ...

The Brewery, the Cave and the Caving Club

The caves in Reigate, Surrey, are in reality sand-cut cellars and sand-mines. The caves that were excavated in Tunnel Road in the nineteenth century were, in part, used as a large beer cellar by the ...

Wealden Cave and Mine Society Wins Radiocarbon Dating Award

In the summer of 2017, I was made aware of a scheme to encourage community archaeological groups to submit material for radiocarbon dating. The scheme is known as the Community Archaeology Radiocarbon Dating (CARD) Fund, ...

Cavers’ Classroom First Aid Event – 7th October 2017

The Wealden Cave and Mine Society have some spaces available for a one-day event: ‘First Aid Training for the Underground Environment’. The date is Saturday 7th October, and the venue is the Scout Hut in ...

NAMHO Annual Conference 2017 – Lecture Review

It fell to me to arrange and host the two days of lectures for the 2017 conference of the National Association of Mining History Organisations (NAMHO), while other members of the hosting group, the Wealden ...

News: Generous Gift to SECRO in Memory of the late Paul Dold LRPS

Paul Dold's death last year in a diving accident in Cornwall shocked his many friends in a way only the unexpected death of someone with such a huge appetite for life can. A Justgiving campaign ...

Recreational Caver Training – Does it Work?

When someone new to caving starts to make enquiries about how to get involved, and what is the best way to gain some experience, one of the more common responses is to suggest joining a club ...

Bookings for NAMHO 2017 Now Live

Bookings are now open for the National Association of Mining History Organisations (NAMHO) Conference 2017, to be based around Godstone, Surrey, UK over the weekend of 23-26th June 2017. A lively and exciting weekend of ...