Visitors to Creswell Crags Museum and Prehistoric Gorge will have the chance to experience the scenic limestone gorge and lake in a spectacular new way this summer.

A partnership with neighbouring business Coloured Cob Equestrian Centre means throughout August visitors can take a horse-drawn carriage ride through the gorge, seeing the lake, crags, and woodland in a style the first Victorian sightseers would have been familiar with.

“Creswell Crags has been welcoming visitors for more than 50,000 years,” said Paul Baker, executive director of Creswell Heritage Trust.

“This was the final frontier of the Ice Age, when nomadic hunters sought shelter in our caves. But it was the Victorians who first saw the site as a destination for leisure trips.

“We’re thrilled to capture the essence of that, working with Coloured Cob to bring regular carriage rides to the gorge, which visitors can experience alongside our museum and going on our cave tours. We’re pleased the carriage will mean visitors who can’t walk as far as the end of the gorge will get a chance to see our views.”

Earlier in 2019, Creswell Crags — already an important site for Ice Age archaeology — achieved international headlines with the discovery of the largest collection of apotropaic ‘Witch Marks’ in the country, carved to ward off evil in the same period that Coloured Cob’s property was first inhabited.

Coloured Cob Equestrian Centre founder and director Sharon Tolley added: “We currently offer one-off carriage rides, day experiences, and pony trekking through the gorge.

“I am very happy that we’ve been able to form a partnership with the team at Creswell Crags to offer a regular chance to enjoy this unique experience.”

Coloured Cob operates from a building and stable complex dating to 1610.

For details visit www.creswell-crags.org.uk or its Facebook page.

To find out more about Coloured Cob Equestrian Centre visit www.coloured-cob.co.uk