St Cuthbert's Swallet is the second longest, and most complex, cave on the Mendip Hills, in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It forms a major part of the

Priddy Caves Priddy Caves () is an Area: 67.6 hectare (167.0 acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Priddy in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1965. The entrance to St Cuthbert's Swallet is incorporated in the adjacent Priddy Poo ...

system and water entering this swallet re-emerges at Wookey Hole. – which also contains a detailed description of the cave. St Cuthbert's Swallet is part of, and lies underneath, the Priddy Pools Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is named because of its location in the St Cuthbert Out parish of Wells, and was originally called St Cuthbert's Pot.

History

Interest in the possible existence of a cave at this location existed before 1927, and increased when St Cuthbert's Pool suddenly drained away in that year. Attempts to discover an entrance took place between 1944 and 1953, when entry was finally gained. Exploration continued to push the known limits of the cave throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

Sump A sump is a low space that collects often undesirable liquids such as water or chemicals. A sump can also be an infiltration basin used to manage surface runoff water and recharge underground aquifers. Sump can also refer to an area in a cave ...

1 was passed in 1969. Sump 2 has not yet been passed.

Access

Due to a still enforceable court injunction dating from 1863, which required that the stream now known to run through the cave to Wookey Hole was not polluted, the cave is locked and access is controlled by the Bristol Exploration Club on behalf of the landowners. No novices are allowed to enter.

Description

St Cuthbert's Swallet is a classic example of a deep

phreatic ''Phreatic'' is a term used in hydrology to refer to aquifers, in speleology to refer to cave passages, and in volcanology to refer to a type of volcanic eruption. Hydrology The term phreatic (the word originates from the Greek , meaning "well" ...

cave system developed at a depth of not less than beneath the water table. It contains inclined bedding plane mazes at many levels, fault-guided rifts and some significant chambers. Nine successive phases of

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...

deposition, stalagmite deposition and stream erosion have been recognised at the site, providing an exceptional record of environmental change through the warm and cold phases of the

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

. St. Cuthbert's Swallet is attractive to cavers, for its complexity and size, reaching over and a depth of , and having numerous large decorated chambers, forming phreatic mazes on seven distinct levels. Among its displays are large and impressive calcite groups such as the 'Curtains', 'Cascade', Gour Hall with its gour, 'The Beehive', Canyon Series and the 'Balcony' formations in September Chamber, perhaps some of the best in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. There are also mini-formations including floating calcite crystals, over twenty nests of "

cave pearl A cave pearl is a small, usually spherical, speleothem (cave formation) found in limestone caves. Cave pearls are formed by a concretion of calcium salts that form concentric layers around a nucleus. Exposure to moving water polishes the surface ...

s", and delicate

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

-like

crystals A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

less than long. The cave has also been identified as an important site for the study of cave insects. ''Oligaphorura'' (formerly ''Archaphorura'') ''schoetti'' (a type of

springtail Springtails (Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects (the other two are the Protura and Diplura). Although the three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called Ento ...

) is a troglophile, up to in length and common in many caves. Most specimens are female but a male specimen was collected from St. Cuthbert's Swallet in 1969.

References

External links

* {{coord, 51.251777, N, 2.654179, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(ST543505), display=title, format=dms Caves of the Mendip Hills Limestone caves

History

Access

Description

See also

References

External links