We found a secret CAVE hidden underneath our student house & it's so cool… we can't wait to have parties in it | The Sun
A GANG of students were stunned to discover a centuries-old cave beneath their rented digs – before the prospect of parties ahead.
The youngsters uncovered the secret hideaway when workmen were called to the terraced home where they were staying in Nottingham.
And experts have since confirmed the deep dive of a find likely dates back to being used as a domestic cellar in the 1800s.
The 200-year-old base was found when workers installing new emergency lighting left a door unlocked on the ground floor of the property in Nottinghamshire's Sherwood district.
That piqued the curiosity of the students, who ventured downstairs and found a whole new floor they were unaware of when moving in.
Nottingham Trent University broadcast journalism student Stephanie Bennett described how their "exciting" discovery also came amid an atmosphere of fear.
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She said: "It’s not a big cave, it’s about 6ft by 4ft – it was quite exciting but we all had to go down together because we were all afraid of what we might have found.
"We’d like to keep it open because it’s quite cool having a cave – we don’t know what we’re going to do with it yet and we haven’t had any parties down there yet."
The group got in touch with local archaeologists who were similarly surprised by the cave's existence, but swiftly suggested it would have been created about two centuries ago.
Nottingham City Council acting archaeologist Scott Lomax said: "The cave appears to be a domestic cellar which is contemporary with the building above, so it is 19th-century in date.
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"It is a good example of this type of cave – although small in size, it is interesting in providing further details about the use of caves in the city."
He noted benches cut into all four walls, suggesting they would be used as shelves to store food and drink.
The cellar has since been recorded on an official database of Nottingham's 700-plus caves, some of which date back to 1250.
Mr Lomax added: "The stone on which much of Nottingham is built is so soft that it enabled these caves to be formed.
"They are all important parts of the city’s heritage because they help us understand the growth and development of the city and the social status of the people who lived here in the past."
Elsewhere in Nottingham, a pub that claims to be the oldest into the country is not only built into the side of a castle but also has caves in which customers can drink.
An "incredible" crystal cave in Surrey has been acclaimed as the most magical place in England.
More caves can be found at Poole Harbour, Brownsea Island – the largest island off the coast of Dorset, now owned by the National Trust and a place said to have inspired Famous Five children's author Enid Blyton.
And a network of caves was also discovered below a former mining village in the Scottish capital Edinburgh.
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