Hell-Fire Caves

Address
Church Ln,
West Wycombe,
High Wycombe,
Buckinghamshire
South East
HP14 3AH

Phone:+44 1494 533739
www.hellfirecaves.co.uk/

About

A tour down the Caves takes you along deep winding passages which extend over a quarter of a mile underground and lead past various small chambers to the Banqueting Hall, and then further down over the River Styx. According to mythology this River separated the living world from the Underworld. You finally reach the Inner Temple are are now some three hundred feet beneath St Lawrence's Church with its Golden Ball on the top of the hill.

Don't forget to keep your eyes peeled for our resident ghosts, Sukie and Paul Whitehead.

Main Entrance

The splendid flint entrance, built to look like a Gothic church, stands high above West Wycombe and the valley. Flints are found locally in the fields in the Chilterns and were much used as a building material.

Paul Whitehead's Chamber

Paul Whitehead was the steward of the Hell-Fire Club as well as a poet. One of his roles was to maintain the Cellar Book accounts of the Hell-Fire Club which involved keeping a list of the wine consumed by its various members when they met at Medmenham Abbey (before the Club moved to the Caves).

He died in 1774 leaving £50 in his will with a special request to Sir Francis. He left his heart to the founder ‘as a token of his warm attachment to the noble founder’ and asked to be placed in an urn in the Mausoleum.

Guided Tours

If you want a spooky candlelit ghost tour or a tour bursting with history we offer guided tours to suit everybody’s requirements. It can be a swift 15 minutes or an hour of historical facts about The Hell-Fire Caves. We can also include the splendid Dashwood Mausoleum on the hillside above the Caves and take you for a walk around the unnerving grave yard of St Lawrence’s Church. Beverages and food can be provided on request.

There are many more surprises in store and a lot to see at the Hell-Fire Caves. For opening hours and more information please see the website.