A SMALL team of cavers has uncovered one of the largest cave systems discovered in Britain for decades and it lies beneath a quiet sheep field near English Bicknor in the Forest of Dean.

The system, which now stretches over 10km and is still growing, was uncovered thanks to decades of dedication by amateur enthusiasts, beginning with Gloucester-based caver Paul Taylor in the 1990s.

After tracing a stream that vanished underground near Redhouse Lane, Taylor and his team from the Gloucester Speleological Society and Royal Forest of Dean Caving Club began digging in earnest.

They eventually uncovered a tight, muddy passage which led to a respectable 1.4km of tunnel.

In 2023 when Tim Nichols, a retired physicist from Cirencester, reignited the project. Alongside a small team, Nichols returned to the cave and pushed beyond the original blockage. In August 2024, they broke through into a vast, untouched world.

Inside, they found towering chambers, crystal-covered tunnels, and a stunning area now known as the White Forest, where delicate formations lie undisturbed after thousands of years underground. They’ve given whimsical names to different areas, including “We’re Off to See the Wizard” and “Cryogenic Causeway”.

Cave photographer Bartek Biela, who joined the group for a bank holiday trip, described how the explorers were underground for 12 hours, navigating narrow water-filled slits, vertical shafts and boulder-strewn galleries in search of new passageways.

The team now believe Redhouse Lane cave may eventually connect to the nearby Slaughter Stream Cave, making it one of the longest underground networks in the country.

Mr Taylor, now 71, said seeing the breakthrough left him choked: “When I saw what there was, what we might have found years earlier, I felt overwhelmed.”

For Forest residents walking the hills above, it’s astonishing to think a hidden underworld of this scale lay beneath their feet all along.