South Wales Caves

Shakespeare's Cave Description

Shakespeare's cave is located on the left, in rock face 50m up a small tributary in the Clydach Gorge - Cwm Pwca - Valley of the Goblins opposite Ogof Capel (map). The cave is the resurgence for the water from Llanelly Quarry Pot located higher up in the Clydach Gorge. This cave has long been known and is said to form the inspiration for Shakespeare's Midsummer Nights Dream as the home of the Fairies. The entrance has three pointed slots radiating above it giving it a magical appearance. The entrance to this wet and sporting cave is a low and leads to a chamber which reduces down to a rift passage that can be followed some distance through some wet sections and two ducks. After the ducks a 2m freedivable sump is reached, which can be bypassed by following a muddy crawl on the right just before the sump. The bypass drops back to meet the duck at the far side of the sump and then the passage increases in height back to a rift passage that eventually ends when it becomes too tight. This point is very close to the sump at the end of Llanelly Quarry Pot.