With creative names like Cripplecat, Sailor’s Choice, Strawmarket and Fern Sink, the Walsingham/Crystal Cave system has long been a fascinating site for scientists, locals and visitors.
From the dolphin show that used to be held at Blue Hole to the discovery of cave-dwelling misophrioids, this Hamilton Parish attraction has been a place of imagination, enchantment and mystery.
Discovered somewhere between 1905 and 1907, the Crystal Caves was the inspiration of the classic Fraggle Rock TV show (remember the Doozers?) and the backdrop of silent movie Neptune’s Daughter (and that scandalous one-pieced swimsuit). Crystal Caves continues to awe and inspire us today.
Boasting 1½ miles of chambers and a max depth of 70ft – with a total of more than 200 caves – it’s an extensive and complex cave system, with underwater passages, air-filled rooms and chambers.
Most of us were taught that the Crystal Caves were discovered when a game of cricket between two young boys, Carl Gibbon and Edgar Hollis, went awry due to a lost ball.
David Roberts, in an article entitled ‘Bermuda’s Secrets’ published in September 1984, provided more meat to the bones.
“A more reliable contemporary account indicates that a 14-year-old native named Carl Gibbon had discovered a cool breeze emanating from some rocks,” Mr Roberts wrote.
“He had pulled the rocks aside and, without hesitation, explored downward until he came to the huge main chamber filled with a lake, which he duly swam across.
“Gibbon’s father owned the land on which the entrance lay. A greedy neighbour walled shut the Gibbon entrance where it crossed his boundary, blasted a tunnel open on his own land, and began showing the cave to tourists.”
That “blasted tunnel” is the entrance we still use today.
Scientists have pointed to the rare nature of the caves – noting that the total volume of all the limestone caverns in the world may be no more than 10 cubic miles.
They have called for their beauty to be preserved due to its significant geological and historical importance.
Robert Power, a certified cave-diving instructor when a survey of the caves was carried out in the 1980s, noted it had “one of the highest densities of caves in the world”.
Mr Power chronicled caves through maps and photography for decades, resulting in stills that seem otherworldly in beauty.
He argued we should be proud of our ability to both preserve the caves and show them off to our visiting friends.
The Crystal Caves are a fine example of why we should take pride and care over our natural resources. Let’s revel in their glitz and glamour – but let’s also celebrate their science and history, so that their dark secrets can be enjoyed for generations to come.
