Crank Caverns, Underground quarry network in Rainford, England
Crank Caverns is an underground network of sandstone tunnels in Rainford with multiple entrances and chambers of varying sizes. The site was created through stone quarrying and features named passages including Elephant Cave and The Mousey Passage.
The site began around 1700 as Rainford Delph Quarry and later served during World War II as ammunition storage for the anti-aircraft position at Crank. Stone extraction shaped the landscape and left behind these underground structures.
The caverns hold numerous tales of missing children, secret Catholic masses during the Reformation, and reported sightings of small creatures in the tunnels.
The caverns are currently closed to visitors for safety reasons, though the exterior can be seen from nearby public walking routes. The surrounding area offers several paths where signs of the underground structures are visible from above.
The quarrying used the pillar and stall method, where stone columns support the roof throughout the passages, giving the network its characteristic structure. This technique is still visible in the physical layout of the caverns today.
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