This flows down a low passage to the north for some 270 metres (890 ft) where a sump is reached.

[1] The cave is formed in Carboniferous limestone,[3] and is thought to drain the Great Asby Scar area 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the south-west.

[5] The main part of the cave has been known for a long time, and it was an object of curiosity in the nineteenth century.

[8] The first account of an exploration by cavers was in 1941 by members of the Yorkshire Ramblers' Club,[9] and in November 1946 it was surveyed by a group from Appleby Grammar School led by Brian Price.

[10] The upstream sump was first dived for about 10 metres (33 ft) to a descending rift in 1960 by members of the Cave Diving Group, at which time the main part of the cave was re-surveyed by Warburton et alia.