Fossil elephant tooth and bison bones

William Pengelly Cave Studies Trust

Advancing the study, education, and conservation of cave environments since 1962.

Welcome

Discover the William Pengelly Cave Studies Trust

The William Pengelly Cave Studies Trust is a volunteer-run charity, founded in 1962, and dedicated to cave studies, conservation, and education. Based in Devon, the Trust operates a study centre, offers educational programmes, and maintains a library and museum. It has strong links with national and international organisations, including the Devon Wildlife Trust and the British Caving Association.

Named after William Pengelly, a pioneering 19th-century geologist known for his groundbreaking cave excavations in Devon, the Trust continues his legacy of scientific exploration and education.

Discover more

The William Pengelly Cave Studies Trust is a charity devoted to:

The study of the cave environment

Educational programmes related to cave studies

Cave conservation

About the trust

Trusted by Thousands of People & Volunteers

In 1962 Dr Antony Sutcliffe of the Natural History Museum in London persuaded the then Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves to bid at an auction of the long-disused Higher Kiln Quarry at Buckfastleigh in Devon.

The bid was successful and the quarry, adjoining fields and buildings were purchased and then leased to the Devon Trust for Nature Conservation (now the Devon Wildlife Trust) with the intention that the site would be developed as a cave studies Centre.

Studies Centre

About the Cave Studies Centre

The Cave Studies Centre is based at Higher Kiln Quarry, Buckfastleigh, Devon and is within the Dartmoor National Park. This limestone quarry is one of several in Buckfastleigh Hill, all of which are now closed.

The now ruined fomer parish church is at the top of the hill (and visible from a wide area) sitting between Bullycleaves Quarry (the last to close), Bakers Pit (closed and used as a landfill site) and Higher Kiln Quarry which is in two parts, separated by a lamprophyre dyke.

Explore The Centre