The Hermit's Cave, or Hermitage, at Dale Abbey, has been known for centuries. Legend has it that in the early 12th century, a baker from Derby had a vision of the Virgin Mary who told him to go to Depedale where he should live in hunger, thirst, coldness and nakedness to serve God. He found his way here, to what was then a desolate and marshy valley, where he crafted a shelter by digging into the sandstone rock of the hillside. The lord of the manor of Ockbrook allowed him to stay, and he is reputed to have lived in the cave for around 20 years.
If you look at the front of the cave you can see large grooves cut into the rock above the entrance, indicating that there was also once some form of wooden shelter in front of the cave. Inside the cave, to the right, is a niche which will have served as some form of altar-place.
Attempts to establish an abbey here started around 1145. The Augustinians were not successful, and it was 1204 before the Premonstratensian Order finally succeeded in setting up Dale Abbey. This grew into a fairly large religious community and survived until the dissolution of the monastery in 1539 under Henry VIII. From the path leading to the Hermitage you can get views of the remaining window of the abbey. If you parked at the suggested parking place, you also walk past the delightful village church on your way to the hillside.
There is no cache to be found at the Hermitage. The entire site, the wood as well as the cave, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument - please respect the environment and its history.
In order to log a Find here, there are two tasks you must complete.
1. Go inside the cave (a torch might prove handy). There's a lot of graffiti here. You are looking for a heart with an arrow going through it, with the initials PP and SW. Below the heart is a date, in the format d-m-yy. Send me a message (or email) via Geocaching which includes that date.
2. Take a photo of something (e.g. a piece of paper) which shows your caching name and the date of your visit, in front of the cave, and attach the photo to your log. If you want to do a self-portrait that is fine, but the name and date must be included. See below for examples. If you come in a group it is not necessary for each of you to take a photo, provided that all those claiming a find are named on the paper in the photograph.
This is fine - just a bit of paper with your name and the date.
No paper? Just write your name and the date on your hand.
Include a selfie if you want, but you don't have to.
A selfie on it's own, without your name and the date, does not meet the requirements for logging the cache.
Once you have sent me the date on the graffiti, don't wait for me to reply - just log a Find along with the photo. But I will delete any logs if I have not received the answer from you, or where the photo doesn't comply with the above instructions.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.