Caves of Hella

Twelve caves have been cut by hand into the soft sandstone at Hella, and four of them are opened to visitors on guided tours. They were used within living memory as stores and byres, but their origin is not settled: the walls carry crosses and worn carvings, and one long-standing suggestion is that they were made by Irish or Scottish monks before or around the time of Norse settlement. That idea is contested and no dating has proved it - the honest position is that the caves are old, hand-cut, and their makers unidentified. The rock is soft enough to carve with simple tools, which is part of why the question is hard to close.

What you'll find

• Twelve hand-cut caves - four of them open on tours.
• Crosses and worn carvings - the evidence people argue over.
• A contested origin - the pre-Norse suggestion is unproven, not established.
• Later farm use - stores and byres within living memory.

When to go

Year round, on scheduled tours; times reduce in winter. One to two hours.

Things to know

There is no independent access - the caves are on a working farm. The tour is the content, so a poor guide changes the visit. Interiors are cold, damp and dimly lit. Claims about monks should be taken as one hypothesis, not fact.

Nearby

Hella is on route 1; Keldur and the saga country are north.