Before the snow hit came, on a dull and overcast day, I took a little research trip to Kinver to visit the rock houses.
These houses are in part what inspired me to give Meryall, the protagonist of my forthcoming book, a cave home – the eponymous Horn Cottage.
The Kinver houses are caved into a ridge of sandstone in Kinver, Staffordshire. The residents found the workable nature of the sandstone beneficial – the houses were easy to carve out and it was possible to extend the homes quickly by excavating a new room.
The houses were reported to be cool in summer and warm in the winter – the thick stone walls acting as excellent insulation. There was a spring which provided fresh well water and the residents once spoke of the peaceful views and healthful position of their houses. The houses had pretty gardens sloping away from the front doors, with open aspects looking out over Kinver Edge.
The houses were lived in up until about the 1960s – for a while, they had become a major local tourist attraction, with Edwardian visitors coming to take tea and visit the quaint homes, but they fell into disrepair after the last residents moved out and the tea rooms closed.
The cave houses are run by the National Trust. There is a little tea room in one of the restored cave houses and you can walk around two of the cave homes.
On the day we visited, it was bitterly cold, but the houses were cosy and warm, with the fires lit… I guess one of the plus sides of a historic building made of stone is that it is safe to have candles and fires inside! I felt that I could happily live in these beautiful homes.
I particularly enjoyed how ingeniously the chimneys were fitted through the sandstone.
And how the doors and windows were carved out of the rugged rock.
There was one area we couldn’t visit -because a colony of bats had moved in and were in need of some quiet time away from prying eyes.
The National Trust also owns the land around the cave houses – Kinver Edge. We took a pleasant walk through the trees and up the hill to the site of an ancient hill fort. The hills are currently home to these handsome long horn cattle, who carried on grazing quietly as we passed them by.
Have you visited the rock houses at Kinver – or cave dwellings anywhere else in the world? I’d love to hear about it.
Prudence x