Gaping Gill (also known as Gaping Ghyll) is a natural cave in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of the unmistakable landmarks on the southern slopes of Ingleborough – a 98 metres (322 ft) deep pothole with the stream Fell Beck flowing into it. After falling through one of the largest known underground chambers in Britain, the water disappears into the bouldery floor and eventually resurges adjacent to Ingleborough Cave.
The first recorded attempted descent was by John Birkbeck in 1842 who reached a ledge approximately 55 metres (180 ft) down the shaft which bears his name. The first complete descent was achieved by Édouard-Alfred Martel in 1895.
Due to the number of entrances which connect into the cave, many different routes through and around the system are possible. Other entrances include Disappointment Pot, Stream Passage Pot, Bar Pot, Hensler's Pot, Corky's Pot and Flood Entrance Pot. In 1983 members of the Cave Diving Group made the underwater connection into Ingleborough Cave.
The Bradford Pothole Club around Whitsun May Bank Holiday, and the Craven Pothole Club around August Bank Holiday each set up a winch above the shaft to provide a ride to the bottom and back out again for any member of the public who pays a fee.
An extreme rock-climb (graded E3, 5c) is possible up the main shaft which requires very dry conditions. It was first pioneered in 1972 with ten points of aid. The first free ascent was made in 1988.
The shaft was the deepest known in Britain, until Titan in Derbyshire was discovered in 1999. Gaping Gill still retains the records for the tallest unbroken waterfall in England and the largest underground chamber naturally open to the surface.
A detailed 3D model of the chamber has been created using an industrial laser rangefinder which showed that its volume is comparable to the size of York Minster.
Famous quotes containing the words gaping and/or gill:
“Some men there are love not a gaping pig,
Some that are mad if they behold a cat,
And others when the bagpipe sings i’th’ nose
Cannot contain their urine.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Culture is a sham if it is only a sort of Gothic front put on an iron building—like Tower Bridge—or a classical front put on a steel frame—like the Daily Telegraph building in Fleet Street. Culture, if it is to be a real thing and a holy thing, must be the product of what we actually do for a living—not something added, like sugar on a pill.”
—Eric Gill (1882–1940)