# Mupe Bay Smuggler's Cave, Dorset 2008



## cloisters (Oct 5, 2010)

Hello All

First report here, hope I've put it in the right category. Hopefully it's something a bit different to the usual!

This is one of my favourite haunts to return to on the Isle of Purbeck. It's relatively untouched, probably because it requires a bit of legwork to get to, over MOD land and then a fun jaunt over a few angular rock formations round the base of the cliff. The places oozes history, yet there's very little out there on the web.

on with the pics:







En route to the cave






The cave entrance






About 20ft in is an ancient false wall with a basic door formation. You can't make it out from this pic, but a good deal of the foundation stones are graffittied.






A bit more history from Smuggling in Britain:

"Smugglers are said to have stored contraband in a cave at the most easterly point of Mupe Bay. In 1906 it could be reached
...by following the coast from Lulworth, and by descending the cliff the moment the bay is reached. The cave is at the foot of the precipice, at a spot where a little channel has been cleared between the boulders for a boat to land. [93]
The Lulworth men evidently took no chances of being identified by the local customs authorities: on a tombstone in Weymouth's Bury Street cemetery there is the following incription:
Sacred to the memory of Lieut Thos Edward Knight, RN, of Folkestone, Kent, Aged 42, who in the execution of his duty as Chief Officer of the Coastguard was wantonly attacked by a body of smugglers near Lulworth on the night of 28th of June 1832, by whom after being unmercifully beaten he was thrown over the cliff near Durdle Door from the effects of which he died the following day. [94]"






Most of it is indecipherable, but you can get a good idea of dates.






Amidst the few dates and names lie some cryptic messages.






Inside the cave...not much in the way of contraband, only from flotsam washed in at high tide






....still pretty creepy though






Looking back out to sea as it clouds over.

Even if it's not the biggest site, it's a gorgeous part of the world. Lots of rusting live ammo from the firing ranges cluttering up the rock pools outside and the acoustics of waves crashing inside is like nothing else!

Cheers for looking!


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## Foxylady (Oct 5, 2010)

Lovely place and interesting piece of history. Smuggling's a great subject...just the area for it too. 
Cheers for posting.


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## JEP27 (Oct 6, 2010)

What a lovely place, I really enjoyed that. It would be a cool place to just escape from the world


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## cloisters (Oct 6, 2010)

Cheers!

I'm a sound engineer and my friend a trad singer, so we combined the trip with some recording in the heart of the cave. The acoustics are incredible. No fun hauling the gear down the face of the cliff, but worth it!






Never again!

Wonderful, isolated spot to escape to though, and very little in the way of tourists...


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## hydealfred (Oct 7, 2010)

Thanks Cloisters for an excellent post from an area I know well from walking the coast path here. Didn't know about the cave though.  Out of all the places I've walked in the UK this ranks very high in the top 10.


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## night crawler (Oct 8, 2010)

Really interesting report and I have no doub't a lot of people liveing round localy do not know it's there.


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## cloisters (Oct 8, 2010)

Cheers all - Yeah, you just need a bit of legwork. Head to Lulworth Cove then take the eastern route along the coastal path - you'll be rewarded with any number of urbex finds. There's a little WW2 vantage point directly above this cave and a very mysterious little cottage with painted on (!) windows, about half a mile inland. Makes for a great days explore!


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