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The Great Britain Guide

Mountains & hills · North West England

Gaping Gill

Free admission

Gaping Gill — cave in North Yorkshire.

Gaping Gill, mountains & hills in North West England

Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
3 h–8 h
Best time of year
Late spring – early autumn (May–Oct)
Nearest railway station
Horton-in-Ribblesdale · 5.2 km
  • Free entry
  • Family-friendly
  • Dog-friendly

About

Gaping Gill is a named summit in the United Kingdom. Wikidata describes it as: "cave in North Yorkshire". Coordinates: 54.1496°, -2.3825°.

Photo gallery

Protected designations

  • Site of Special Scientific Interest: Ingleborough SSSI
  • National Nature Reserve: INGLEBOROUGH

Designations sourced from Natural England open data under OGL v3.

From the Wikipedia article

Gaping Gill (also known as Gaping Ghyll) is a natural cave in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of the unmistakable landmarks on the southern slopes of Ingleborough – a 98-metre (322 ft) deep pothole with the stream Fell Beck flowing into it. After falling through one of the largest known underground chambers in Britain, the water disappears into the bouldery floor and eventually resurges adjacent to Ingleborough Cave. The shaft was the deepest known in Britain, until Titan in Derbyshire was discovered in 1999. Gaping Gill still retains the records for the highest freefall waterfall in the UK and the largest underground chamber naturally open to the surface.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

Description

Due to the number of entrances which connect into the cave, many different routes through and around the system are possible. Other entrances include Jib Tunnel, Disappointment Pot, Stream Passage Pot, Bar Pot, Hensler's Pot, Corky's Pot, Rat Hole, and Flood Entrance Pot. The Bradford Pothole Club around Whitsun May Bank Holiday, and the Craven Pothole Club around August Bank Holiday, each set up a winch above the shaft to provide a ride to the bottom and back out again for any member of the public who pays a fee. A detailed 3D model of the chamber has been created using an industrial laser rangefinder which showed that its volume is comparable to the size of York Minster.

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
54.1496, -2.3825
Parish
Clapham cum Newby
Postcode
LA2 8EE
Parliamentary constituency
Skipton and Ripon
Nearest railway station
Horton-in-Ribblesdale5.2 km
Official site
cncc.org.uk

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Gaping Gill?
Gaping Gill is in North-West England, United Kingdom (postcode LA2 8EE), in the parish of Clapham cum Newby.
Is Gaping Gill a protected site?
Yes — Gaping Gill is part of the Ingleborough SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest and the INGLEBOROUGH National Nature Reserve.
Is Gaping Gill free to visit?
Yes, Gaping Gill is free to enter.
How do I get to Gaping Gill?
The nearest railway station is Horton-in-Ribblesdale, about 5.2 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode LA2 8EE.