Tilly Whim Caves

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Tilly Whim caves consists of three stone quarries in Durlston, 1 mile from Swanage in south Dorset. Tilly Whim is probably an anglicised version of the gaelic "Tulach Uamh" roughly translated as knoll cave. See Ordnance Survey-Guide to Gaelic Place Names in Britain. The caves have not been quarried since 1810 when the stone would have been knocked out of the cliffs and loaded directly onto boats with the "Whim"; a special type of wooden crane. The caves were closed from the public in the 1970s as they were thought too dangerous. However, the area is still popular with fishermen and "tombstoners", and are considered a very famous feature along the south coast, near Swanage.