Are You Brave Enough to Enter the Hell Fire Caves?

Step inside this haunted underground labyrinth…

It was a gloomy wet October day when I entered the Hell Fire Caves in Buckinghamshire, England, for the first time. I was checking out the claims that the place was haunted for a magazine article I was putting together on local ghost stories. After watching a 2005 edition of ‘Most Haunted’, I was pretty well informed about what I might expect to find inside… orbs, spirits, strange sounds, and unexplained occurrences.

Haunted by at least four ghosts, these caves are rumoured to be a hot spot of paranormal activity. I went on a bleak rainy day, expecting the place to be deserted, to get the full effect of the haunting experience. But on my arrival, I was greeted by a queue of elderly people who had just arrived by coach! Fortunately, they spent so long in the tea shop and checking out the church above, that it was 2 hours later before they ventured into this gloomy underworld.

A sign on the wall read: “Sufferers of dizzy spells, faints, blackouts and loss of balance should not enter”. I pressed onwards where I was greeted by display boards and an audio introduction explaining a little of the history of the caves.

As I squinted through the viewfinder of my camera, the display boards looked blurry and jiggled on the wall. Then I noticed that my photographs revealed distinctive orbs. I was standing near the entrance where many orbs have reportedly been seen.

I started to feel quite nervous walking down the tunnels, alone in the dark. It crossed my mind that I couldn’t see any CCTV cameras and wondered how long it would take before someone found me if something bad happened! Suddenly the idea of the coach party joining me down there had some appeal.

Venturing deep into the tunnels, the first cavern I came to was the Steward’s Cave containing the steward’s desk and quarrying tools used by the workers.

Then I reached the Cave of Paul Whitehead: the poet and drinks steward for the Hell Fire Club, a notorious club of gentry and aristocrats who got up to all sorts of outrageous behaviours, probably including orgies with prostitutes.

It was here that the strange experiences began: I felt momentarily sick and dizzy as I passed Paul Whitehead’s Cave — only to learn that his ghost still haunts the cavern. A chill filled the air and a surge of adrenaline drove me on whilst an increased level of alertness had me flitting at every sound.

The next major cavern was the Banqueting Hall at the centre of the labyrinth of tunnels. This was the primary location for drunken parties and debauchery by the members of the notorious 18th-century Hell Fire Club. Legend states that a young girl called Suki, who worked as a maid in the local pub, the George and Dragon, was lured to the caves after receiving a letter supposedly from an aristocrat whom she hoped to marry. The letter said he would be waiting there for her and they should elope and be married.

She arrived in a wedding dress, but it was a cruel trick that went horribly wrong. The man she loved was not there, but three boys were waiting for her — they were jealous that she was not interested in them. They started teasing her, and she threw stones at them. They threw some back, and one hit her hard on her forehead and killed her. Her tormented spirit still roams the tunnels — sad, disillusioned, and wearing a Victorian wedding dress.

I had hoped to spot Suki, but instead, I was hit by an aroma in the banqueting chamber, like perfume and gas mingling at the same time. Was it the memory of a spirit, or a real haunting presence? I couldn’t possibly know, but the scent was quite distinctive, hanging in the air, rather than emanating from anything physical.

During the Hell Fire Club’s parties this chamber would have been filled with good food and wine. Lit by candles, the flickering light would have been reflected in the polished silver and crystal, whilst those present wined and dined on huge portions. I could imagine the chamber lit up by dancing flames from candles, accompanied by music, and setting the scene for more sinister activities.

I moved on and passed the river Styx which, according to legend, separates the real world from the underworld. The souls of the dead were ferried across the river by legendary boatman, Charon. The coloured lights brought the river to life, and in my heightened state of alertness, the sounds from the river below seemed to hold an eerie presence of spirits.

Beyond the river Styx, the dark, eerie tunnels, led downward to The Inner Temple, the lowest point in the caves, 300 feet directly below the Church of St Lawrence. It was dubbed ‘Hell’, whilst the church above was dubbed ‘Heaven’.

When the caves were opened to the public in 1951, the local vicar condemned them as unholy and complained to the Daily Mirror, saying “my tummy wobbles like a jelly every time I pass the entrance”. This was the kind of publicity you couldn’t buy, and it set the venture on a road to public intrigue and financial success.

As I walked back, still alone, and rather spooked, I considered the significance of what I have experienced: orbs, a drop in temperature, blurred vision, a fragrant smell with no particular point of origination, and unexplained sounds.

Other visitors have experienced strange shapes and orbs floating towards them, bats flying by, mists and ghostly apparitions. In particular, a man in Victorian clothing has been reported following visitors — until he is spotted, and then he vanishes. One theory suggested is that he might be a workman who helped to dig the caves, or he might be a victim of the Hell Fire Club’s devil worship and sacrifices to Satan.

It’s not a place you want to go by yourself unless you’re prepared for an unsettling experience. I was quite glad to get out in the end, but it’s a visit that I won’t forget in a hurry!

They typically have Halloween ghost hunts, paranormal investigations, and tours by candlelight for Halloween. This year, they have a Halloween feast. Find out more: www.hellfirecaves.co.uk

© Susie Kearley 2023. All Rights Reserved.

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