Hillier's Cave () is a cave in Fairy Cave Quarry, near

Stoke St Michael Stoke St Michael is a village and civil parish on the Mendip Hills north east of Shepton Mallet, and west of Frome, in the county of Somerset, England. History Since the 14th century the village has also been known as Stoke Lane, although t ...

in the limestone of the

Mendip Hills The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath, Somerset, Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the River Frome, Somerset ...

, in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It falls within the St. Dunstan's Well Catchment

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. The cave was discovered on 13 February 1954, when blasting at one of the working faces opened up a cave passage, and is now choked with sludge waste from the quarry. It was first explored by John Anthony Quinn and boys from

Midsomer Norton Midsomer Norton is a town near the Mendip Hills in Bath and North East Somerset, England, south-west of Bath, Somerset, Bath, north-east of Wells, Somerset, Wells, north-west of Frome, west of Trowbridge and south-east of Bristol. It has ...

Grammar School (now

Norton Hill School Norton Hill School is a state school with academy status in Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England. It is part of the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership academy group. It was formerly the Midsomer Norton Grammar School. The school had 1,827 stud ...

) who named it in honour of Gordon Hillier who was headmaster of the school from 1926 to 1958. The Fairy Caves Management Committee administers the access to this cave on behalf of the quarry owners.

References

See also