Quirky Dorset 25 – The Smugglers’ Cave
– – – Exploring The Countryside and Lanes of Dorset – – –
Continuing our theme of quirky things in Dorset – I think this must be Quirky Dorset Part 25 🙂 – we return to the coast, and a very hidden part of the Jurassic Coast too. And we are visiting another part of Dorset with a really adventurous past……..ah, if only rocks could talk! This is the Smugglers’ Cave.
The Smugglers’ Cave
The Smugglers' CaveThe Smugglers’ Cave
The Smugglers’ Cave is situated in a tucked away position in Mupe Bay, or to be more exact, Bacon Hole, which is a tiny bay just west of Mupe Bay. It is rugged and remote, miles away from the nearest town or road. The only way here is on foot and that is no easy walk either, and there is no way down from the cliff top above other than to continue east to access the beach at Mupe Bay and then retrace your steps back along the rocky shore.
You could easily miss this cave as it is not easily visible from the coast path and even from the waters edge, it is still not obvious. It is sited a couple of miles east of Lulworth Cove and village and it is fairly clear why this would be a good choice for smugglers to land and store their contraband ready for onward movement inland. Goods such as brandy, wine and tea would have been landed in this sheltered cove and moved swiftly into the cave under cover of darkness.
The entrance to the cave slopes at a forty five degree angle because of the way the strata has been crumpled and upturned along this part of the coast. As you enter the mouth, you can spot the false back wall with its small square door in the gloom. It was behind this wall that the contraband would have been stored, protected from the elements.