Blanche Cave

Blanche Cave
Location	Naracoorte Caves National Park, South Australia
Length	250 metres
Discovery	1845
Entrances	3

Blanche Cave, previously known as "The Big Cave", "The Old Cave" and "Mosquito Plains Cave", is one of 26 caves to be found in the Naracoorte Caves National Park, a World Heritage listed site. Blanche Cave was the first of the caves to be discovered in the Naracoorte area, having been discovered by the European settlers in 1845, and can be accessed by the public through guided tours of the site. The cave contains a number of features, including, at one time, the mummified remains of an indigenous man – remains that were stolen twice in 1861 and never returned. The location has been the site for a number of events, such as, in the early days, annual New Years parties and, much more recently, it was featured as part of the Olympic torch relay for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Blanche Cave, along with the nearby Victoria Fossil Cave, was added to the South Australian Heritage Register in 1984.

Blanche Cave was discovered by European settlers in approximately 1845 by the local pastoralists – Benjamin Sanders, a local station manager, is surmised to be the first European to see the cave when he found sheep that had gone missing within it, presumably having been driven there by the members of the indigenous population. The first detailed recording of the cave occurred 13 years later in March, 1858, when Reverend Julian Woods wrote about his experiences at the site in the South Australian Register. He described the entrance of the cave in poetical terms, comparing it to a cathedral.

After its discovery, access to the cave remained unrestricted, and this led to a degree of deterioration, especially in the entrance chamber. 21 years after Woods described the scene, an unnamed journalist visited the cave. He had previously read Woods' account, and described how the site had deteriorated through human action.

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