Paranormal Investigations Ltd

WELCOME TO AN ALTERNATIVE WALKTHROUGH OF THE HELLFIRE CAVES, WEST WYCOMBE.

Firstly it must be said that all the material that follows is purely speculation, however all of it is possible and the reasoning behind every theory will be laid out for analysis.

  Our scene opens with the rising sun climbing high over the Buckinghamshire countryside on a large hill surmounted by an Iron Age Fort. Within the hill, lower down the slope is a cave made by man searching for flint.  The Fort records identify an earth fortification with a stone circle inside as possibly an early religious meeting place, maybe sun worshippers.

A Fortress on top of a hill would make for an excellent defensive position but it would have needed one feature that cannot be found inside the earthworks to the present day - WATER!  Once  men had resisted an up hill attack and beaten the enemy back, refreshment  would have been needed, wounds would need to have been cleaned and live stock would also have been thirsty, So the big question is where would the water source have been. It would make for a poor defensive position if the enemy could walk down the hill and refresh themselves at the nearest stream or spring but the defenders had none easily accessible. Eventually they would have  to leave  the safety of the Fort to collect water and even with storage, not enough water could be collected to sit out a prolonged attack

The Iron Age earthworks gradually evolved into a village and this fact meant that communities would not have lived for thousands of years in a place where water had to be carried up the hill every day. Bearing this in mind, it was essential to locate a water source. A well to any depth may have been beyond Iron Age technology so a natural spring may have been more likely. This would have to have been accessible from inside the fort possibly next to or near the stone circle and could also have been a place in the Religious Workings of the people concerned.

So there was an Iron Age civilization with a Fort and natural spring worshipping in a Stone Circle and then one day along came the Romans. It is well known that the Romans liked to just absorb other religions into their own way of life and they did like a natural spring which could be used as a place to give offerings to the Gods. The site of a villa is recorded at the bottom of the hill and a Roman road runs right through the present day village. Roman coins have also been found in the immediate vicinity. The spring gained a new use as a place of offering and the Fortress was incorporated into the Roman way of life. The village remained and life went on.

On top of the hill the importance that was given to the Fort transfers to the natural spring as daily offerings were brought by locals and people using the road  to travel westwards. The Iron Age village stayed on the hill and its occupants serviced the villa and farmed the surrounding land. A wooden watch tower was erected and soldiers stationed to keep watch over  the surrounding landscspe. The spring developed into a Shrine and eventually into a small Temple possibly to the Sun God.There were temples to Isis built at Hadrians Wall so maybe this spring temple was to the Aten (an egyption sun deity).

The Romans finally left heralding the arrival of the Dark Ages. The style of the village changed as the villa slowly became a ruin and the Shrine slowly reverted back to just being a spring. Very few people would have remembered it  as anything other than a well. The wooden watchtower remained but was seldom used as the Danes had now  been defeated. The  cave further down the hill was still used as a storage area, the constant temperature making it very useful for cheese, wine, beer or even as a hiding place.

One day a strange man arrived carrying a wooden cross and wearing a dark grey robe, bringing the Word of God. Next to the recently remodelled well, a small Saxon Church rose up. Life on the hill went on. 

The cave down the hill was a useful source of chalk for building material and was slowly growing in size. Along came the Normans and the Watchtower was rebuilt using flint. The well was now between the tower and the Church which was also now made of flint. The Ancient Fort was used as a graveyard the memory of this place lingering on in the villages memory.

The Village's next visitor was death, specifically Plague and the villagers were hit hard with many dying. The caves became a place to throw the ashes of the dead as they were believed to have been cursed by God. The village became run down and decisions were made by the remaining inhabitants  to move the village down to its present position at the base of the hill on the main road as the protection of the fort was no longer needed. Trade and commerce became their tool for survival.The caves now lay still and unused except for the excavation of chalk when needed and a place for children to tell ghost stories and play.

Eventually only a couple of people still lived on the hill and their days were numbered. The Church and well were still used but the tower became derelict and slowly the village on the hill disappeared.

In the mid 18th century, Sir Francis Dashwood turned his gaze to the caves. He had them enlarged and redeveloped along with the Church, his house, grounds and lakes, also he improved the road from London to Oxford.

The caves were developed into a meeting place for the Brotherhood of Francis of Wycombe, the church was rebuilt and the Norman tower was enlarged and joined to the church by a large square building which now encompasses the well. Later, Sir Francis using monies donated by George Budd Dodington built the Mauseleum as a final resting place for members of his family and close friends. The Hellfire Club disbanded before the end of the 18th Century and the caves became a local curiosity that interested parties could visit by collecting a key and a candle from a nearby house and venture into its now dark forgotten realm.

The modern day caves are now a tourist attraction elaborating on the stories of the Hellfire Club but with cryptic hints at hidden mysteries waiting to be discovered.

 The front facade of the entrance to the Caves has gothic overtures loudly proclaiming an eclesiastical style. Note however that it is split into 3 sections. The top section has a 3  piece window that symbolically could speak of the Church of St Lawrence on top of the hill.  The middle section with its bell shape might refer to the Great Hall area or the Inner Temple. Then there is the lower section with its wide opening possibly indicating a lower level to the tunnel complex. Observe the two wings either side of the main entrance, curious round holes that are echoed on the outside walls of the church on top of the hill. What could these be hinting at? Possibly the existance of two tunnels, one heading west and one heading east , or maybe  the Aten sun disc of ancient egypt.Then there are the recesses under the holes were these for statues .All of this suggests  that the front facade is possably a map of the tunnel system. If this is true then what other hints hidden in the tunnel complex can we unearth.

    Two maps on the wall of the hellfire caves entrance neither is correct in the layout. A laser fired the lenth of the XX tunnel proves this .From the circle at the stewards cave all the way to the childrens cave is a direct line heading west , where the tunnel then turns northwest.However we will look at this area later in depth.

 Moving forward into the main entrance, the first thing to note is the map on the wall. The problem here is that it is wrong. In the Catacombe section the tunnel bends round towards the Great Hall. On the map the tunnel bends twice however in reality the tunnel only bends once altering the the whole shape of the lower part of the tunnel system. It is notable that this mistake on the map takes place near  to the entrance of the Childrens' Cave but this also will be looked at further on.

Immediately on entering is the first tunnel which at one time held a large wooden front door, the jams can still be seen. To enter the caves a key would have been collected from the nearby caretaker's cottage and  used to gain access inside. The tunnel heads due north until a junction is reached and the tunnel turns to the west. At this point is a small cave named ' the Tool Store' which depicts some of the tools used back in the day of Sir Francis. This cave was probably used to store tools back in the 1950's when the caves were renovated to reopen for the public. This was more than likely the GateKeeper's  office where he could monitor the coming and going of people and control the security for the tunnels.

                               gate keepers room                                                  secret door or illusion

At the end of this entrance tunnel is what appears to be a blocked up door. The area has been extensively re-worked to create a safe enviroment but these blocks look so blatently  like a door that it has to be asked why it has never been explored, unless it is only an illusion and has been made to appear that there is a secret area beyond. If there was indeed a secret area then this would be the perfect place as people arriving would need more space to see to mundane things such as outdoor wear and maybe a changing area. On further inspection a hole has been drilled between two of the blocks that goes in around 5ft and has not broken through into an open area. On the opposing wall a similar hole has been made at sometime in the past but this also seems to suggest that these blocks are either a natural feature or a man made feature to either give the illusion of a blocked up secret area or my favorite, an area that was blocked up long ago to hide a deeper mystery.Maybe, at a certain time of the year the sun shines the full length of the entrance corridoor and illuminates this part of the wall like some of the other ancient monuments  around the world . Just 50 yards in and already we have been transported to ancient Egypt.

On the wall just to the left of the door is a block with what apprears to be alchemic symbols carved on it .I tmust be said that as the tunnels have been around for a very long time, it is almost impossible to judge what is modern graffitti and what dates back to older times.However there are clues in the style of the graffitti,although old looking symbols or writting could be done in more modern times and made to look older.

The date of these carvings cannot be verified so they could have been added at anytime but it can be said that they are at least 15 years old as the research for this book goes back that far.  The 'W' in the top righthand corner is an 18th century style, two interlocked 'V's with capped tops. The bottles are  also in the 18th century style. In the bottom left hand corner is the hole that goes in approx 5ft between the blocks. Do these symbols hold some mystic secret  or symbolism or are they just graffiti?

The tunnel heads west and down a slight incline, arriving in an open area wth the Steward's Cave to the right. It is in the right place to have been the Steward's Cave and the area was well lit  with plenty of candle stands cut into the walls. This cell  contains  the urn perported to be the one that held the heart of PAUL WHITEHEAD who left his heart  and £50 for an urn to be placed up in the Mausoleum, a strange request for a  man to leave his heart to a club that ran for a few years and then disbanded.Is this a sign of overwelming love and affection , or is there a deeper afterlife reason , again we turn our gaze to ancient egypt and  Anubis taking the heart to be weighed by Osiris  whatever reason posessed Paul Whitehead to do this it must have been more than just a club. Here we get our first real glimpse of something vastly bigger than a mere Gentlemens' Club, something that has made a real impact on such a scale that an educated man would even consider making a very personal gesture of this kind.

This is a picture of the original urn with inscription, nothing like the urn kept in the caves today . The original urn is said to be held over at the main house.                       

Taking a brief look at the man himself, Paul Whitehead was born in 1710 and was the  son of a wealthy london taylor. He studied law, was a poet, satarist and writer. After a financial incident he spent some years in prison and was released shortly after his marriage to Anne, daughter of Sir Swinnerton Dyer-Bart. He was the appointed Secretary and steward to the Monks of Medmanham Abbey and the later named Hellfire Club of West Wycombe. He lived in Twickenham in a house later known as 'Colne Lodge' in 1755. His wife, Anne died in 1768 and was buried at St Mary's Church in Teddington where Paul Whitehead himself was later buried minus his heart in 1774.Did Paul find a loop hole in the burial rights, body with his wife, heart to Anubis .Of course why would paul leave his heart to Anubis,We need to look at the bigger picture.Second mystery.

ALso allegedly, prior to his death in 1774, all of the documents relating to the Caves and the activities there were destroyed or hidden by himself over three days.Of course paul whitehead was a lawer so destroying documents , paperwork ,and records would normaly run against the grain so if he did not destroy all the documentation then where would he most likly hide them  ,maybe in the same place he entrusted his heart.Now we have the possability of hidden records but where?.Already we have a third mystery and we have only walked 100 yards,the caves go on down for a quater of a mile and there is so So SO much more.................

SO YOU WANT TO WALK THE FULL LENGTH OF THE HELLFIRE TUNNELS ALL THE WAY TO THE INNER TEMPLE ,EXPLORE THE MYSTERIES , LOOK AT A CONSPIRACY OF POWER AND CONTROL.  .............buy the e-book.....

COMING SOON

ON SALE FROM OUR WEB SHOP.