The secret cave half an hour's drive from Liverpool

A cave in a remote corner of West Lancashire has developed a cult status with urban explorers.

The disused mine shaft, known as The Dragon’s Eye cave was a secret shared by a handful of explorers and locals.

Its exact location in Upholland is only known to a few urban explorers who have shared the exact co-ordination points between themselves - and the residents who keep a watchful eye over the area.

At the centre of the cave, which is thought to be formed from an old mine shaft, is an unusual feature known as the ‘dragon’s eye’.

Formed by a pattern in the rock, the eye appears spherical when the light catches it in a certain way, resembling something associated with a J.R.R Tolkien novel.

One Urban Explorer from Merseyside visited the cave last year, only to find that the eye itself was not too easy to come by.

The explorer, who asked to remain anonymous, told Lancashire Live : “We almost missed it.

“It’s believed to be where the roof has collapsed. You go through a window in the floor. You have to crawl through and there’s a slope going down. I think it used to be a mine.

“When you get down there it’s a load of caverns and caves. We actually missed the dragon’s eye at first.

“It’s created by a clever camera angle and lighting to get it to look like that. You have to light it up and stand in a certain position.”

Dan Dixon, another urban explorer and creator of well known YouTube channel ‘exploring with fighters’, managed to visit the dragon’s eye twice last year.

Despite having travelled the world searching for abandoned locations, Dan claimed that the dragon’s eye was one of the best places he's ever visited, just a stone’s throw away from where he lives.

“It’s in my top three. I’ve been to battleship island in Japan, which is the holy grail of all abandoned explorers. I’ve stayed the night in Dracula’s castle, I've been to all these places, Romania, Italy…

“I've been traveling the world since 2017 searching for places like this, and when I've got one on my doorstep, it was just an unbelievable moment.”

It is believed that locals are keen to keep the whereabouts of the cave a mystery due to the dangerous conditions in the area, with Dan concurring, suggesting the area would not be safe for children passing by.

The mythical looking pattern is believed to have developed ‘as a result of a collapsed mine roof that exposed different colour sediments’, according to discvr.blog.

The collapsed roof is is clearly visible from pictures and videos, with slate piled up high to the roof of the shaft and it has now reportedly been sealed off to prevent accidents or injuries.

For now, it seems as though the mysterious dragon eye stone will remain a mystery to many.