Mrs Cazalet of Torquay (fl 1825-1827), patron and fossil collector
Original entrance to Kent’s Cavern before it was excavated, from a drawing by Mr Gendell of Exeter who accompanied Thomas Northmore on his visit in 1824. From Oscar Blewitt’s 'The panorama of Torquay, a descriptive and historical sketch of the district comprised between the Dart and Teign', (1832). Source: Hathi Trust: University of Wisconsin.
Before its first major scientific excavation in the 1820s Kent’s Cavern, or Kent’s Hole as it was frequently called, was a tourist attraction in Torquay. In his book ‘Observations relative chiefly to the natural history, picturesque scenery, and antiquities, of the western counties of England, made in the years 1794 and 1796’ (1797), the physician William Maton recounted a visit to the site where his guides were (in his eyes) “two ancient females, and not the most comely of their years”. The women led Maton to the mouth of the cavern which was just wide enough to enter. Provided with candles, tinder-boxes and a candle stuck on a slitted stick, the group entered into the cave. "The chill we received after having entered is inconceivable, and our clothes were moistened (as it happens in the Peak) by the continual dropping of water from the roof.” [George Maton, Observations relative chiefly to the natural history, picturesque scenery, and antiquities, of the western counties of England, (1797)]
In September 1824 Thomas Northmore was visiting his family in the town when his brother-in-law Captain Richard Welby showed him a copy of William Buckland’s ‘Reliquiae diluvianae; or, Observations on the organic remains contained in caves, fissures, and diluvial gravel…’ (1823). Buckland’s book, about his famous excavations in Kirkdale Cavern which he identified as the remains of an ancient hyena den, contained a brief mention of Kent’s Cavern. Northmore, who was obsessed with the practices of ancient druids, thought he could kill two birds with one stone - find evidence of Kent’s Cavern’s use as a Mithraic temple and dig up some animal remains at the same time.
Northmore’s efforts to find animal remains were more successful than the search for Mithraic artefacts and he reported his discoveries to William Buckland. Not having the time to oversee the excavation himself, Buckland encouraged a local Roman Catholic priest Father John MacEnery (1797-1841) to undertake the project. Between 1825-1829 McEnery found the bones of extinct animals such as bears, hyenas, rhinoceros and deer as well as man-made flints in amongst the animal bones.
Interior of Kent’s Cavern in 1825 or 1826 drawn by John Marten (GSL Archive ref: LDGSL/400/22). The drawing shows a number of figures holding candles in split sticks, three of whom appear to be wearing skirts/dresses. Two would be the female guides. The other may be Mrs Cazalet who was known to have joined MacEnery in the excavations.
‘Cazalet’s cave on the cliff of Anstey Cove’, by John Marten, 1825. (GSL Archive ref: LDGSL/400/21). MacEnery named another cave they investigated together after Mrs Cazalet.
The site of Kent’s Cavern was owned by Sir Lawrence Palk but the funds for MacEnery’s excavations appear to have been provided initially by a Mr and Mrs Cazalet. It would certainly explain why Mrs Cazalet had the pick of the specimens before MacEnery and that it was she who donated a large amount of material from Kent’s Cavern to the Geological Society’s Museum between 1826-1827. Not much else is known about the Cazalets other than that they were described as ‘co-religionists’ with MacEnery (ie Roman Catholics, possibly from his congregation) and that they were involved in the excavation of Kent’s Cavern between November 1825 until they moved out of Torquay on 19 June 1826.
The fate of Mrs Cazalet’s own private collection is unknown and MacEnery’s report on his excavations did not appear until many years after his death. However the plates which were commissioned between 1827-1828 include specimens from Mrs Cazalet’s donation to the Society.
Plate showing an upper jaw of a tiger, a lower jaw of a hyena and a tooth from a bear. From John MacEnery's 'Cavern researches, or, Discoveries of organic remains, and of British and Roman reliques, in the caves of Kent's Hole, Anstis Cove, Chudleigh, and Berry Head', (1859). Plate C. GSL Library Collection.
The tiger jaw was in the possession of Sir Lawrence Palk, but Mrs Cazalet had a cast of it which she donated to the Geological Society's Museum.
Plate showing bear teeth, lithographed by Mary Buckland. From John MacEnery's 'Cavern researches, or, Discoveries of organic remains, and of British and Roman reliques, in the caves of Kent's Hole, Anstis Cove, Chudleigh, and Berry Head', (1859). Plate F. GSL Library Collection.
Figures 4, 5 and 6 are studies of the same tooth which was donated to the Geological Society's Museum by Mrs Cazalet in 1826.
Plate of hand-worked flints found in Kent's Cavern. From John MacEnery's 'Cavern researches, or, Discoveries of organic remains, and of British and Roman reliques, in the caves of Kent's Hole, Anstis Cove, Chudleigh, and Berry Head', (1859). Plate T. GSL Library Collection.
All of the flints in this plate were given to the Society's Museum by Mrs Cazalet. The flints were controversial at the time as geology was very much still tied to the biblical timeline. Their existence implied mankind co-existed with these extinct creatures which went against the widespread religious beliefs of the period. For more on this subject, see the exhibition on another bone cave in Torquay - Brixham Cave and the Antiquity of Man.