An employees view (Mother Shiptons Cave & Petrifying Well)

Member Name: magpie

Product:	Mother Shiptons Cave & Petrifying Well
Date:	18/07/01 (869 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: All day parking, Nice walk

Disadvantages: No wheelchair access, Expensive

Many moons ago I worked at Mother Shiptons Cave as a summer job, doing everything from giving guided tours, to cleaning the loos! In this review, I will tell you about the park, some of the history, and my opinion of it!

The Park
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In ther park there are several attractions. First (and most obviously!) is Mother Shiptons cave. This is not a deep cave, more an opening in the rock. Its not somewhere you need a lamp to see into! This is supposedly the place where mother shipton was born, and lived.

Next to the cave is the wishing well. This is a natural spring, with a pool sunk into the rock. People put in their hand (and sometimes money) and make a wish.

Next to the wishing well is the petrifying well. This is a waterfall, where the water contains large amounts of disolved limestone. As the water flows over the waterfall, the limestone comes out of solution, and will cause any porous objects to form stone. Pieces of clothing, teddies, and similar objects are usually hung underneath the waterfall, to be petrified. They are then sold in the shop at mother shiptons. In order that the rock doesn't get any bigger, it has to be regularly cleaned -- a wet and unpleasant job!

A visit to the park will allow you to have a guided tour of the wells and the cave, which will include the description of the life of mother shipton, and the process of petrification.

There is much more to the park than this though! There is the famous 'Long Walk' -- originally planted by one of the Slingsbys -- local rich family. This is basically a woodland walk along the side of the river. You will see squirrels, birds, ducks and so on. It really is a very pleasant walk.

Also, there is a small museum, which includes a potted history of Knaresborough.

Finally, included in your ticket price is car parking all day. This is quite a good deal, as you can easily walk into the rest of Knaresboro
ugh from mother shiptons.

The history
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As I have said, the long walk was planted by one of the Slingsbys, and is a very pleasant walk. The park itself used to be part of the forest of Knaresborough -- a very popular hunting forest, the favourite of King John.

The story of Mother Shipton is that she was born, probably a bastard, in the cave. She made her living by making prophesies, including prophesying her own death.

Many of the prophesies which are around now (iron upon water shall float, as easy as a wooden boat; around the world thoughts will fly in the twinkling of an eye; carriages without horses will go;) were infact a Victorian fabrication, made after inventions which fullfilled these prophesies (ships, telegraph, and steam trains).

Whether Mother Shipton really existed, or lived in the cave, has not been convincingly shown. However, it is likely that the area around the petrifying well, where dead animals would be found turned to stone, would have been thought cursed to medieval people.

My opinion
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Is a trip to Mother Shiptons worth it? Well, yes, I think it probably is. Although there is not a lot to see, it is a nice place. The walk is nice (though not as long as you would think from the name!), the cave is a disappointment, the well is quite good though. It makes quite a good base from which to explore Knaresborough.

Unfortunately, prices have been going up recently, and it has been expensive to visit the cave. This may change though, as the park has just been sold. What the new owner will do is not yet known.

One caveat -- the park is not suitable for people in wheelchairs. The cave and well are only accessible by steps.

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