English cave dwellers that inspired Tolkien were evicted

[@2lmdi]

I wish the government would just leave people alone. They were there for so many years and knew what they were doing.

[@willowmacgregor8526]

If the government isn’t making money off you then they won’t leave you alone unfortunately. We managed for so long minding our own biz without governments

[@EmilyBoltz]

I couldn't agree more!

[@ryang2573]

It's ironic, considering that the modern UK is so environmentally conscientious, that they would force people to live in dwellings constructed of industrially manufactured products. These cave houses are a prime example of we today would call "Appropriate Technology": energy efficient, decentralized, constructed with locally sourced materials, and utilizing building techniques that worked *with* the local terrain rather than adapting the local terrain to accommodate some standardized model. If plumbing was such a concern, and they were just going to put the people into council housing anyway, surely it would have been more cost effective to construct a gravity drainage system for them that went into a bog downwind?

[@2lmdi]

@@ryang2573Well said

[@savedfaves]

This was similar to what the English did to the Australian aboriginals. Well, they separated the aboriginals and their kids and destroyed their lives, but they would not leave them alone, having survived just fine for 40,000 years.

[@ladyofthemasque]

The reason why the white painted walls are so hard is because it's not paint, but rather, whitewash, limewash, lime plaster. Successive layers of slaked lime, whether applied as lime putty plaster or as actual whitewash paint, has slowly hardened over the decades into cement by absorbing carbon dioxide from the air. Those homes would not have been nearly as safe without that protective layering structurally. They're also safer biologically, since limewash is highly alkalinic and is naturally antifungal and antibacterial. The white surface also helps reflect light into the room, allowing candlelight or lamplight to stretch farther than the original darker sandstone would have allowed.

[@RuththeTruther]

Thank you for this amazing information!

[@mariapierce2707]

Thank you .Very interesting!

[@maggot5693]

The plaster walls wouldn't of turned into cement,,, cement has an interlocking crystal its different to plaster.. An cement or concrete strength is compression strength... Here you would need tensile strength wich concrete doesn't really have,, thats why they use reinforced mesh... It would be more of a carbonation an turn into limestone An limestone contains crystalline silica. Calcium oxide (lime) is on the hazardous substance list

[@sanjivjhangiani3243]

My mother was from Birmingham and we were both fans of Tolkien, and I had never heard of this! Very interesting!

[@peterstean2138]

I'm from the Black Country, and of course it gets its name from the heavy industries, usually involving iron and steel, that coated everything in soot back in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Your colleague was right in saying that the air over on Kinver Edge would have been much cleaner than that in the surrounding industrial towns. This might be apocryphal, but I've been told several times that Tolkein based his account of Mordor on the Black Country, where the fiery glow from foundries would have been visible on the horizon from his home high in the Malvern Hills.

[@debbralehrman5957]

I have read that about Tolkien also.

[@jaegrant6441]

Well, he wasn't that off the mark really looking back. Industrialisation has become the evil that is Mordor,

[@janaprocella8268]

JRR Tolkien was best friends with CS Lewis one became a Christian and converted the other one.

[@philmckenna5709]

@Jae Grant M'kay... Just out of interest, what device did you use to post your simplistic message?

[@valmarsiglia]

Also fittingly enough the birthplace of metal! \m/ >_< \m/

[@TheWaldHaven]

Thank you for searching out these interesting places. I would never have known about these caves in my own country if you hadn't showcased them.

[@jaegrant6441]

Probably because there's no money in it lol

[@clovermark39]

Yes it’s great how they find these places from all over the world. Nice that they found these places in the UK. 🇬🇧. Looks like good use of limewash all over the place which helps with insulation too.

[@aineoconnell690]

Me neither. Never knew of their existence

[@Jarmezrocks]

Thanks Kirsten, so great to see your uploads I think these houses are just great! So practical and so convenient at the same time? Wake up, go to work outside, grow your own food, then a place to sleep for the night....... Then do it it all over again the next? That's practical. Only in today's times, we have things that need to be so extravagant, to impress people who don't care? The times when these houses were made there was none of that! The irony with this all is, seeing all the families arriving at this place today; many of those people visiting would be considered "wealthy"in comparison to the original settlers.......but those people are spending their money buying tea and biscuits at this old settlement in the cafe? Thinking about this now just seems awesome! Imagine if the people who were alive when this was built, and who helped build it could see all these modern day people coming to the site in awe of what's been created? The disparity of time, of socio-economic difference, of social status between creators and admirers, is just amazing!

[@SuperSPatrick]

Easier to source and buy square glass and frames for windows than having them custom-made, not to mention cheaper.

[@bogsplash8612]

There are quite a few villages and towns in the W. Midlands that have some rock houses carved out of that friable, red sandstone. Most are abandoned and left to rot. Nice to see the restoration job they have done at Kinver Edge.

[@maobfh]

I have wanted to live in a cave, hidden from view, for as long as I can remember. Some cave houses in Spain have been inhabited for centuries and are still in use. You will see them, occasionally, listed in real estate ads. Cave homes have been created in the Southwest Desert of the US in New Mexico and Arizona. I am sure there are others scattered around the globe, but I don’t know where. As they maintain a constant temperature in the 60’s, I am surprised that more people don’t make use of them. I cannot say for certain that this temperature is global and if the same temperature would be found in the Arctic as well as the underground homes in Coober Pedy, AU. I have read, somewhere, that this temperature is global but I don’t know if that was someone’s impression or if it has actually been verified.

[@nicholausjamesjay83]

As you go north, the ground temp cools. We live in Minnesota, and I believe the ground temp here is around 58°F here in the winter and around 60°F in the summer. I am just going off memory, so I could be off a bit, but I know, down south of us the ground temp is a few degrees warmer.

[@monikori6473]

In Greece too.

[@maobfh]

@@monikori6473 - yeah? Now I would LOVE to have a cave home in Greece!!!

[@veronicaroach3667]

Thing is the basement of my house is built into the hillside so it stays very cool in summer & toasty in winter - I practically live there in my office where I am typing this ! I recommend it !

[@ninad5692]

That's funny, I live 20 minutes from the Rock Houses but have never visited, now I really want to go have a look! Thank you 😊

[@johnbellamy6449]

Dear Kirsten and partner how wonderful of you to take us to this beautiful amazing place x we only live a few miles away from it.we did hear of some caves but to see how these amazing people have put it back is such a credit to them.bless them all .for bringing it back to life.we live at Bosworth nr battlefield but I'm from Nottingham originally and the castle I think has the same sandstone caves under the castle. Linda Bellamy UK 2022

[@talesfromthecaveside]

Its always nice to see examples of cave houses, we own one in Alicante

[@margaretpiddock455]

My great great Grandfather used to live in Kinver, i use to visit there many times when i was a child, lovely to see it again 😀

[@GlasPthalocyanine]

I have a lot of family history in Kinfare and Kingswindford, too. I don't know if any of them lived in the cave houses. Locally, people said that people were living there up until the 1940s (?). We used to go up there in the 70s and 80s. One of the houses was used as an ice cream shop, for the tourists during the Summer months.

[@deborahdonnelly8423]

Even in Iceland the last cave dweller left about 15 yrs ago.

[@centauri9458]

Looks like the big house that was half in the rock half out that they used the quarried blocks out of the cliff to build the walls of the house.

[@debbralehrman5957]

I have seen other locations in England like this too. Resourceful people.

[@murraywagnon1841]

I visited some houses in the medieval town of Pals, in Catalunya where the front rooms were masonry buildings, and the back rooms were carved out of the stone hillside.

[@nicolasboullosa]

Thanks for the tip Murray, that reference is very close to home. Being lots of times in and around Pals, but never checked those from the inside out. Never too late!

[@murraywagnon1841]

@@nicolasboullosa Look for a ceramics studio/gallery with the back rooms carved into the rock.

[@terrian1679]

The Out slope on the trail on the way inside is enviable as a desert trail designer, and builder 🙃

[@fallbrkgrl]

If I could build a home, I would want the finished product to look like it was built hundreds of years ago. I'm one of those weirdos that hates open concept. Small kitchen, with room for a kitchen table, and fireplace (if I didn't live in the desert). Lower ceilings, with solid wood beams, arched entry ways, etc. Oh to dream.... ❤️🌵☀️⛈️🌈☮️🐎

[@questioner1596]

Doesn't the desert have cold nights? An argument could be made for a kitchen fireplace, especially for cooking.

[@veronicaroach3667]

I get it - sometimes videos of other people's home are so not me I have to stop watching. So much money sometimes spent on so much ghastly decor - but these cute little places appeal to me too - they are like everybody's Grandma's home, or at least in my 82 yr old brain they are - the old black stoves, the clothes hanging on the clothes-horse to dry, the old mixing bowls & kitchen utensils - I can remember my grandmother's & great grandmother's homes in London - homes with whitewashed doorsteps, because they had pride, just not too much money ! Those houses they used to live in are now very posh & completely revamped London terrace homes - very expensive too. We should not lose sight of history !

[@fallbrkgrl]

@@veronicaroach3667 Oh, I could just imagine those old houses in London. Just like all over the world, those old homes, and the way off life (with a few of our modern conveniences), need to be preserved. Not just the fancy homes of famous people, castles and such. FYI... England is the only country I've ever been to (I'm from the US). I got lucky that the company I worked for needed some of us for a project, at our facility in Basingstoke. Even better, one of the engineers knew that this would probably be a once in a lifetime trip for some of us, so when there was any down time, he had us in the car, and took us to see as much as we could. This was back in the 90's. It sure was something special for me.

[@belindahugheslifestyle]

Great exploration video, Kirsten. I'd never heard of these before. I'm mentally relating it to my experiences with the modern prep and self-sufficiency movements, my own family's farming history and global indigenous tribes. Thanks for what you do. Subscribed. ^5

[@PureFatguy]

This sort of short with just the two of you was delightful! Love to see more of these!

[@littlenest]

This looks so amazing! I thought we'd be looking at actual dingy caves but these look like proper cottages that just happen to have a whole rock for a roof and they're suprisingly bright on the inside!

[@valerief1231]

At 11:50 that Sandy floor is a result of everyone walking thru and touching the walls. I’m curious how much larger the spaces have become since Turing it into a tourist attraction, as we see Josh thought it appropriate to carve his name into the landmark.

[@dama9150]

Yikes! I live in Bristol, just south of here, and had never heard of these houses!

[@HLR4th]

Wonderful video. In addition to the Tolkien connection, I wonder if John Howe, Allan Lee or anyone from WETA ever visited. It may just be common English Country decor, but the divided lights, the clay tiles, the proportions of the kitchen very much reminded me of Bag End as depicted in the LOTR:The Fellowship of the Ring (and yes, the Hobbit, but we don’ts talks abouts that, My Precious) movie.

[@RobVespa]

Fascinating! Thank you. This looks like so much fun to explore.

[@psychobiotch]

I didn't realize there were "modern" cave men and women. Amazing.

[@3generations393]

Year round temperature sure would be appealing to me 👍

[@koshabull208]

How do you pay property taxes for a hole carved on the side of a mountain??

[@lmrandlette]

Please consider visiting / documenting Cappadocia, Turkiye, and the extensive assortment of historical cave dwellings.

[@debrarobinson57]

The cave houses there were a cafe until the late 1960's / early 1970's. They then stood empty for a very long time until returned to houses . If I remember correctly, the Warden [ who looked after Kinver Edge] lived there briefly.

[@samuelboucher1454]

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."

[@PlanetEarth3141]

There are a lot of reasons to consider these kinds of houses or habitats. The most obvious are historical. The very subtle reasons are in comparisons between the logic of the way we live now and the way people used to live. In many ways these ancient homes are superior to modern homes even before our Age of Electronics. If one combined modern tech with old tech housing we'd be better off economically and immune to natural disasters. What we build from sticks and brick is insane, but no one challenges the reasons which are all bad.

[@INSPIRITION]

Exactly! Combine our modern knowledge of natural processes and natural materials . My childrens books about earth in the future have houses ‘built’ of living trees….they take about thirty years to grow sufficiently to make Ito a home, so children of the family begin them…😉✨

[@kristimcgowandarkoscellard3126]

These places fascinate me. They are beautiful and stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. With electricity and running water put in them cave homes make a lot sense. Looking at this particular rock formation, I can’t help but see a giant petrified tree stump. 🤔 The whole formation looks like petrified wood to me???? 🤷🏼‍♀️ Cheers

[@justaramblin835]

The modern stuff can be interesting at times but me I like the more classical homes. There's something charming about the little nooks that people made for themselves then and now.

[@Soundslikeaplan]

I live in England and didn’t know about these houses. It’s only a couple hours drive from me. I think I’ll go visit it now I know!

[@nicolasboullosa]

Definitely worth the trip. Can see why the area is sometimes called the Switzerland of England: quite hilly and pleasant. Plus Robert Plant was born nearby LOL.

[@williamwolchock6457]

I love this channel!

[@nssdesigns]

When Charles & Diana got married me and a group of school friends from the village of Coven cycled here and went in the caves. At that time there were lots of rooms in the rock where kids and locals just crawled in and played... some were bricked up but most were still open. We didn't see any of this area but i guess that wasn't our objective.

[@DemonaLlama]

You might be interested in The Roaches on the Staffs/Derbyshire border near Buxton. There's a rock house up there too.

[@freepress8451]

Interesting place though we were disappointed seeing the traditional windows, doors and bricks - you should visit The Rockhouse Retreat

[@SjeikJoriz]

They should've called it Soft Rock Café.

[@markanon5581]

Would love to see you visit Kris Harbour

[@mangethegamer]

Are these the Hobbit people that Tolkien famously wrote about?

[@thesnoopydance645]

Do you mean are they the ones that inspired Tolkien to create "hobbits?" 🙂

[@keithklassen5320]

Lovely video! I noticed that a lot of the exterior rock faces seemed very close to precisely vertical, and mostly quite flat; usually sandstone doesn't end up in such sharp shapes. Was that area quarried for stone? Quarrying will often produce that kind of sharply vertical rock. Altho perhaps the former residents did that for aesthetic reasons?

[@experimentalcyborg]

Why didn't they just add sewage, water mains and electricity over time? Seems perfectly doable.

[@sevengrey2408]

great video, but I don't like this bubble view camera and it is hard to watch :(

[@fiwalker6690]

Super interesting thanks guys 🙏❤️🇳🇿🇳🇿

[@sweeneytod1]

They keep talking about dampness. The only moisture would be condensation. To avoid this you need the stove and ventilation.

[@gracie99999]

this probably the most serene peaceful channel [and real] i kno

[@TheMitchyevans]

They were minecrafting before the rest of us even knew what it was.

[@mtmtmtmt]

Thanks!

[@kccorliss3922]

Is it a park or preserve now? Entry fee? Seemed busy for some caves…. Why no wine tasting room?

[@britzel71]

I'm not sure why it seems so strange putting windows in their home to look out of and the fact they didn't have a bathroom or electric inside...it's called living off grid now days but this was reality in our past before all the luxuries time has brought. These homes were completely livable and I'm sure they were happy until the government pushed them out.

[@thechosenwon6762]

Black country was known for heavy industry not so much coal however obviously industry at the time used a lot of coal

[@bkbroiler8069]

There are a lot more accient underground dwellings in England. Under Nottingham Castle. Check out Paul Cook channel.

[@nikandjb1]

Also, there’s the pub ‘the Trip to Jerusalem’ which is built into the castle rock.

[@Enoo-Wynn]

Also the lime kiln homes in Derbyshire.

[@sheilam4964]

I don't see outdoor toilets and hauling water as a problem. I grew up without an indoor toilet and running water or sewer. My grandparents on both sides were still living the same way into the 1980s, by then I was an adult. What I DO see as a problem is NO GARBAGE PICKUP. We burned our garbage in a 'burning barrel' in the back yard. Today most waste is plastic. You don't want to be burning that in your backyard. Burning it is soooo toxic.

[@fikumichu]

Looks like a melted red brick building

[@coleybowley]

Kind of reminds me of the new animal crossing as you walk through the "neighborhood."

[@Carftymk]

and this just gets turned into a museum where people living in boring townhouses, shoeboxes and soulless mcmansions can visit for an hour. instead of, you know, just being habitable

[@greasybumpkin1661]

you have to give credit to the National Trust though, they preserve all kinds of sites across Britain, if it weren't for them no doubt the slimey government and corporate husks would just pave over everything and erase any history and culture they can find.

[@mrlugh]

Maybe avoid groping the walls - every visitor that does that will demolish the place if they are fragile as described.

[@VRtechman]

People should build Homes like this at other Stone Diging places also. 🤔

[@margaretnesbeth593]

I recall a whole TV programme devoted to somewhere like this where people built their own little homes in the hills after first and second world wars, I cannot recall the name of the TV documentary other than it was I. 1970s

[@allanegleston4931]

one thing i didnt get the feeling of is being clasterobic.

[@rachelb1449]

Is anyone else a bit disturbed by the pup whining in the background? 😅

[@zellafae]

Ya, i hope the puppy is ok

[@VRtechman]

I remember seeing another really run-down place like this on another KZbin page! 🤔 I wonder what happened to it!? It was really falling apart! And it was on the side of the road. 🥵

[@hafsalinda]

Yes, i saw it also.

[@normanseagull4027]

You need to visit Granada in Spain to see cave house.

[@britfliptop]

Who got evicted ?

[@merlinbrubaker1163]

These videos could be tighter with the narrative

[@ogxj6]

Reminds me of the place outside Moab

[@valmarsiglia]

Very cozy. I could easily live in one of those.

[@cherbear1996]

I'd live a home like that..smaller tho, easy to heat n cool..love the coziness..

[@melparrishjr]

They were "Worried" for them and so they evicted them. Then they turned their homes into a tourist trap!! Those people were actually better off in the homes they dug out for themselves from the sandstone and the rock. For one thing, they didn't have to pay rent and now they do! It was a big swindle and now those people are forced to live in the rat race and pay rent while others make a fortune shuffling tourists in and out of their homes. The homes that they built!! I'm sure people will do much better if others don't "WORRY" about them...

[@bertibear1300]

We were freer then.Imagine trying to do anything like that now in a hypercontrolled country like the U.K. these days ?

[@kbamne99]

god job i like your all video [india]

[@debojitmahanta]

Just love what you do

[@jeffreyash3802]

That is to cool. I would love to live there.

[@GoingsoloinFrance]

Cosier than my place :-)

[@emsalsa9385]

I always think when i see things like this that I could live like this EXCEPT for a hot shower…. For me a hot shower is one of the few things I genuinely feel like I wouldn’t fare well without. Of course you’d adapt but it’s one thing I really would struggle with. Pooping in the dead of winter in an outhouse I could deal with….no hot shower…preferably not lol

[@karenreaves3650]

Tolkien shared that he wrote this as a documentary, not fiction.

[@mikeluit3027]

Interesting. Rock air conditioning. Too bad it doesn't allow for a large population to live within them.

[@online12plus]

that house rocks

[@The_Gallowglass]

One day I'll have me own hobbit house.

[@susanna3313]

Melted buildings...then they moved into them in the 1800's

[@jooei2810]

This house has 100 times more Tolkien in it than the Amazon laugh-fest The Rings of Power.

[@gabrielrodriguez1589]

Es como la comarca de los hobbits, hermoso!

[@sandraslate7043]

I hope the census taker had a 2nd job!..lol

[@capmarketer5038]

someone in the video has a whiny dog...a border collie?

[@MaiDove3]

Very cozy❣️

[@sibellakingston52]

Even though Tolkien lived in Birmingham, there's actually no evidence that these were an inspiration for him.

[@nino71]

Matera, Basilicata, Italy....World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1993

[@evelinharmannfan7191]

Here in Germany there are places we have the same kind of red rock, "Buntsandstein" (coloured sandstone.) It was quarried for building houses and churches, often used in contrast with white stones. Some of these rocks became home to medival hermits, or were used as a backwall. They are not inhabited anymore, but are still visible. Some contain rock carvings. There are some pictures in the German and the English Wikipedia entries. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhausen de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhausen_(Gleichen)#Felsentreppen

[@brightwhitelight9445]

I'd be happy to live there now it looks so cute & what a view.

[@CloningIsTooGoodForSheep]

The 'Hobbits' were based on the people living in the Ribble valley in Lancashire.

[@PleaseNThankYou]

I think the reference to those who lived in these cave homes as "subsistence" is a bit condescending. I'm sure these homes were full of life, love, and happiness. If you have never been raised nor have lived with Western creature comforts like toilets with running water and electric stoves, ignorance was bliss, not "subsistence".

[@jedics1]

Typical, the hard work of poor people who literally carved out a living to survive into the side of a rock hill and then used by presumably poor people then the establishment rolls in seeing a buck to be made kicks them out and turns it into a tourist trap.

[@Argi-em]

minecraft survival mode dwelling, but irl

[@soulman956]

Thumbs up from a Black Country man

[@marymoor935]

I hope they haven't evicted the cave dwellers of Nottingham, I remember them being very beautiful.

[@PleaseNThankYou]

Kansas City, Missouri, USA utilizes their extensive cave systems for commercial warehouses and offices because of the natural climate control, warm in the winter, cool in the summer.

[@johnryman1366]

Their are cave houses monks lived in outside Zagreb on the boarder of Slovenia. more primitive then these

[@brianpaige4884]

I'm surprised they not put dingy diver's in....save on hotel's the government are looking for more empty places to get more in...