Banwell Ochre Caves () are a 12.46-

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre i ...

geological 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 Is ...

near the village of

Banwell Banwell is a village and civil parish on the River Banwell in the North Somerset district of Somerset, England. Its population was 2,919 according to the 2011 census. History Banwell Camp, east of the village, is a univallate hillfort which ...

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...

, notified in 1983. There are five caves in total which contain the most extensive and accessible

yellow ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

workings in the

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

. A wide variety of

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

types and iron hydroxides (

limonite Limonite () is an iron ore consisting of a mixture of hydrated iron(III) oxide-hydroxides in varying composition. The generic formula is frequently written as FeO(OH)·H2O, although this is not entirely accurate as the ratio of oxide to hydroxide ...

s) can be examined in situ, and the evidence of their accumulation as residual ore-bodies associated with Ice Age (

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

) sediments is clearly visible. The caves are also a nesting site for the

Horseshoe bat Horseshoe bats are bats in the family Rhinolophidae. In addition to the single living genus, ''Rhinolophus'', which has about 106 species, the extinct genus '' Palaeonycteris'' has been recognized. Horseshoe bats are closely related to the Old ...

a protected species. The caves were first exploited for ochre mining in the 1930s and worked until 1948. Cave one is long, Cave two , cave three cave four and cave five long. A small additional cave is choked with rocks at a depth of .

References

{{Mendip Hills Caves of Somerset Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Avon Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1983 Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset Limestone caves

See also

References