The caves are now closed to the public but during the 1950s they were open and Male Dragontree had the privilege of going on a tour with his parents.
The Caves are described on the excellent Swanage website:visit link
'Tilly Whim caves is the most easterly quarry in a stretch of quarries that exist along cliffs of the southern Purbeck ridge. Located between Anvil Point and Durlston Head the caves used to be accessible along the coastal path near Durlston Castle but have since been closed to the public for safety reasons.
Originally excavated during the Napoleonic War, the limestone quarries were used up to the start of the 20th century. The galleries reach back deep into the Purbeck ridge in horizontal Jurassic strata.
All of the stone excavated from the Tilly Whim quarries was shipped via sea using barges in calm weather using a winch to lower the stone from the cliff face to the waiting barges below. Up to 50 tons of stone was removed in solid blocks from the galleries before being broken down into more manageable sizes using only hand tools.
Removal of the stone to Swanage Bay using the barges could only be carried out in the summer months while the weather was calm enough.
The wood used throughout the caves came from shipwrecks that occurred regularly around the Purbeck shoreline. The name Tilly probably came from the owner of the quarries.
The stone excavated from the Purbeck quarries was used to build much of London with places including St Pauls Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament built using Purbeck stone.
None of the cliff side quarries are in use today. All stone from the Purbeck area is now excavated from surface quarries where large holes are dug in the ground using mechanical excavators and shipped away using large stone carrying lorries.'
More information is available here:visit link
'Tilly Whim Caves are old limestone quarries that were mainly worked during the eighteenth century. The name may have been derived from a former quarryman called "Tilly" and the type of primitive crane, then in use, known as a "Whim".
A valuable type of Portland Limestone was extracted from the caves. The quarrymen mined horizontally into the cliff face using only punches, wedges and hammers to split the rock into workable blocks.
The quarrymen were also skilled stonemasons working much of the stone on site, into finished building blocks or items such as sinks and troughs.
The stonework was lowered from the ledges onto boats using a "whim" and then taken out to a larger sailing ketch anchored offshore or shipped directly to the yards on Swanage Quay.
During the Napoleonic wars Freestone was used extensively for building fortifications along the South coast. However, after the war ended in 1815 the demand for stone slumped and for the next 50 years the caves saw little activity apart from smugglers plying their illicit trade.
In 1887 George Burt opened the Tilly Whim as a tourist attraction for his Durlston estate. Public access to the caves continued until 1976 when serious rock falls made them so unsafe they had to be closed.
Today, the caves and ledges provide a haven for hibernating bats, maritime plants and various nesting birds.'