The Hellfire Caves
A rich English lord dug tunnels deep into a chalk hill, ending at a chamber beyond an underground river. His friends met there in secret, and rumours flew.
What was reported
In the 1740s and 1750s, Sir Francis Dashwood, a politician and aristocrat, had a network of tunnels dug into the hill at West Wycombe, partly to give work to local farm labourers. The passages wind down to a chamber beyond a stream called the River Styx, after the river of the underworld.
Dashwood led a club of wealthy friends that came to be called the Hellfire Club, and they were said to meet in the caves for secret rituals, drinking and other excesses. Stories spread of devil worship and dark ceremonies.
Explanations offered
Historians think the club's meetings were more about drinking, mockery of religion and fashionable mock rituals than real devil worship, and that many rumours were exaggerated by political enemies. The caves are now a tourist attraction with tales of ghosts.
- When
- Dug in the 1740s and 1750s
- Where
- West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
- Witnesses
- Visitors and historians
- Status
- Partly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
More from England