Denehole

A denehole (alternatively dene hole or dene-hole) is an underground structure consisting of a number of small chalk caves entered by a vertical shaft.

The name is given to certain caves or excavations in England, which have been popularly supposed to have been created by the Danes or some other of the early northern invaders of the country.

The common spelling Dane hole is adduced as evidence of this, and individual names, such as Vortigern's Caves at Margate, and Canute's Gold Mine near Bexley, naturally follow the same theory.

[1] In most cases, between two and four sub-chambers are present, excavated laterally from the floor level, the roof being supported by pillars of chalk left standing.

Isolated specimens have been discovered in various parts of Kent and Essex, but the most important groups have been found at Grays Thurrock, in the districts of Woolwich, Abbey Wood and Bexley, and at Gravesend.

[1] Pliny the Elder wrote about British chalk extraction in A.D. 70 and archaeological evidence shows that at least some of the deneholes were being exploited during prehistory.

[citation needed] Vortigern's Caves at Margate are possibly deneholes which have been adapted later for other purposes; and excellent examples of various pick-holes may be seen on different parts of the walls.

[1] By the end of the nineteenth century, three purposes had been suggested for which deneholes may have been originally excavated: For several reasons it is unlikely that they were used as habitations, although they may have been used occasionally as hiding places.

A curious smoothness of the roof of one of the chambers of the Gravesend twin-chamber denehole has been put forward as additional evidence in support of this theory.