Reed's cave is a

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

in Higher Kiln Quarry near

Buckfastleigh Buckfastleigh is a market town and civil parish in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway ( A38) at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge and, for ecclesiastical purposes, lies within the Totnes Deanery. ...

, Dartmoor,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. It has many formations including the unique Little Man formation, which is beyond Easter Chamber. Devon's only true

troglobite A troglobite (or, formally, troglobiont) is an animal species, or population of a species, strictly bound to underground habitats, such as caves. These are separate from species that mainly live in above-ground habitats but are also able to live u ...

collembolan Springtails (Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects (the other two are the Protura and Diplura). Although the three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called Ento ...

''Pseudosinella dobati'' is recorded from this cave. People are generally not allowed to enter Reed's Cave, but some entries are permitted during the summer months. Reed's Cave was once connected to

Bakers pit Bakers Pit is a phreatic maze cave system near Buckfastleigh, Devon, England. It was first opened in 1847 by quarrying activities. Bakers Pit is entered via a vertical descent of 16 metres. It has of passage contained within an area of and a ...

but the connection has been filled in with

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

. Because of entry restrictions, the cave has become an important roosting site for

Greater Horseshoe Bats The greater horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus ferrumequinum'') is an insectivorous bat of the genus '' Rhinolophus''. Its distribution covers Europe, Northern Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Asia. It is the largest of the horseshoe bats in Europe an ...

Easter Chamber

Near the entrance, there is a long crawl followed by a squeeze that leads to a

grotto A grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high ti ...

followed by Easter Chamber. Easter Chamber has many boulders and a few pools and formations. From here, some passages lead to the "little man"

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

, which is directly below the tomb of the Cabell family.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Reeds Cave
Buckfastleigh Church Legends With Short Mention
Caves of Devon