The mysterious haunted caves near Greater Manchester where four children ‘vanished’

There are some mysterious haunted caves close to Greater Manchester filled with ghostly figures, witches, monks and dwarfs.

Just a few miles from Ashton-in-Makerfield, there’s a mystical underground world called Crank Caverns.

According to local history archives, sandstone quarrying began here as early as 1730 — no wonder it’s haunted!

Having seen plenty of paranormal activity over the years, the abandoned quarry near Rainford in St Helens, has attracted visitors from far and wide to see if its folklore is really true. 

The spooky abandoned site is said to be home to dwarfs, monks and witches who inhabit its labyrinth of caverns, living deep underground. 

Many have reported seeing the monks walking deep into its murky tunnels, seen a ghostly highwayman leaning on a rock, heard the echoing of strange voices and even spotted what resembles a witch’s face on a rock wall.

Formerly called Rainford Delph Quarry, the area is filled with a network of tunnels and caverns, as well as an extensive woodland — enough to make your imagination run wild.

The caverns aren’t easy to locate and are now sealed off by a gate on the private road that leads up to it.

The caves are thought to have  been used as a game reserve by the Earl of Derby, and then an ammunition storage facility during the Second World War.

Legend has it in the late 18th century, four children decided to explore the sandstone caverns and vanished. One child survived and told a story about small old men with beards who killed his three friends and chased him.

The petrified child stumbled over human bones in the caves and finally managed to scramble through an opening to the surface as a hand was grabbing at his ankle.

The authorities were concerned because a number of people had gone missing in the area near the cave entrances.

Two heavily armed soldiers descended into the caverns with torches and claimed that they not only found a heap of human bones, they also found the ruins of an ancient church of some unknown denomination.

The interior of the church was lit by three large candles and grotesque gargoyles formed part of an altar.

Throughout the exploration of the underground, the soldiers said they felt as if they were being watched, and also heard voices speaking in an unknown language.

It is believed one report said that a child’s head was found in a cave, along with evidence of cannibalism. After a second investigation, the caves either collapsed or gunpowder was used to seal them.

Another myth surrounding Crank Caverns is that there could be a cathedral deep within the caves, however through research, Lewis Atherton from Exploring History UK folklore podcast, along with Claire Rigby from Momo’s cafe, believe this is not the case. 

In the podcast, Lewis said: “In a caving world, a cathedral would be the opening of a cave, of a mine. The best way to describe a cathedral in a mine is how it is described to this day — a big grand opening with big rooms and big walls.”

Claire said: “If you studied caving at university, a cathedral would be classed as the largest cave out of a series of caves and caverns, and the largest cave would normally have some sort of slab and that would be where a lot of miners would sit and rest and drink and things like that.”