Dartmoor National Park Authority
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Buckfastleigh Caves SSSI (SX7366)
A complex of caves of great geological interest formed in the Pleistocene era. They contain the richest collection of fossil remains of various mammals in Britain, including hippopotamus, straight-tusked elephant, wild boar, spotted hyena, lion and small mammals.
The caves are now home to the largest colony of the rare Greater Horseshoe Bat in Britain, containing more than 1,000 adult bats which is about a quarter of the UK’s total population. Emergence from the caves can be observed at dusk in the summer months from the Church Steps, Buckfastleigh. The rare crustacean Niphargellus glenniei, thought to be a pre-glacial relict also lives in the waters of the caves.
Page updated 27 August 2009
