Cavern of Lost Souls (Abandoned Car Cave), Wales

Cavern of Lost Souls is a famous abandoned car cave in Wales. This was an old slate mine in the Ceredigion region, filled with lost cars. Hundreds of tonnes of slate would have been hauled out and transported by narrow-gauge horse-drawn tramway. When the mining industry began to decline several decades ago, the mine fell silent.

Two large chambers are accessible, one of which is of interest here. The main chamber is around sixty-five feet deep. This Cavern of Lost Souls chamber is deeply flooded, with a small opening to the surface. Since the mine closed, locals and the council have used this opening to dump a wide array of unwanted items. Fridges, TVs, microwaves and even whole cars are piled up at one corner of the mine chamber. The Cavern of Lost Souls is lit by a single ray of light, illuminating the twisted pile of wrecked cars and metal. The water in the cavern is revealed to be striking turquoise-green where the light strikes it. Breathtaking reflections of the cars and cavern walls are cast across the millpond-still water. The occasional falling pieces of slate break the silence and send out ripples.

Visiting the Cavern of Lost Souls – The famous abandoned car cave, Wales

The climb down into the cavern is treacherous, with crumbling rocks and a sheer drop into the blackness below. We opted to use a rope to climb, and to haul our equipment. Even so, the descent was slippery and dangerous. We entered the Cavern of Lost Souls after so long in darkness. Finally, the dimly-lit silhouette of the car graveyard on the other side of the chamber greeted us. We powered off our head torches and stood waiting for our eyes to adjust to the subtle light. The cavern is still and quiet, with only the occasional drip of water disturbing the silence.

While (initially) in no rush to make the perilous climb down again, I was glad to have visited. In recent years, I have visited the cave several times now. Every time I enter the chamber the size and scale of this place takes my breath away (or, perhaps it is the cold temperature!).

Photos from my first visit to the Welsh underground car cave

My first trip to the Cavern of Lost Souls was in 2016. At this point, I had only been photographing lost and abandoned treasures for one year. This was the first location where I was forced to photograph such a large dark space. Looking back on these photos, I do not consider them “bad”. Certainly, they are different and less polished than more recent work. We evolve and grow with every year of our journey, but in life and with photography. I include these older photos as an interesting aside, as part of my Cavern of Lost Souls photographic collection.