Windmill Hill Cavern, Limestone cave and scheduled monument in Brixham, England.
Windmill Hill Cavern is a limestone cave beneath Mount Pleasant Road comprising natural chambers and passages that extend roughly 96 meters in length with a vertical rise of about 30 meters. The formations were created over thousands of years by water erosion working through the soft rock.
The cave was discovered in 1858 when builder John Lane Philp broke through into it with his pickaxe during construction work at Windmill Hill. The find later prompted scientific excavations that revealed important details about prehistoric life in the region.
William Pengelly's excavation team uncovered 36 Paleolithic artifacts, including a flint knife, along with fossils of extinct British animals.
Public access has been restricted since 1977 due to insurance requirements, and the cave remains closed to visitors. While reopening plans were considered at various points, the site today functions as a scheduled monument that cannot be entered.
During scientific excavation led by William Pengelly, researchers recovered about 36 Paleolithic artifacts including a flint knife alongside remains of spotted hyenas, woolly mammoths, and cave bears. This evidence shows that Ice Age megafauna once roamed what is now the English coast.
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