Swildon's Hole is an extensive
cave
Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...
in
Priddy
Priddy is a village in Somerset, England in the Mendip Hills, close to East Harptree and north-west of Wells, Somerset, Wells.
The village lies in a small hollow near the summit of the Mendip range of hills, at an elevation of above sea-leve ...
,
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 ...
. At in length, it is the longest cave on 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 ...
. It has been found to be connected to
Priddy Green Sink and forms part of the
Priddy Caves 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 ...
(SSSI).
The upper series of the cave compresses many features into a relatively short space. The cave goes far beyond this, however, and the lower reaches of the cave continue to provide challenges for even the most experienced of
cave divers.
The name may be a corruption of
Swithun
Swithun (or Swithin; ; ; died 863) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for posthumous miracle-working. Accordin ...
, an Anglo-Saxon
bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.
The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...
, as the land in the area was owned by St Swithin's Priory in
Winchester
Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...
.
History
The cave was first entered on 16 August 1901 by members of the
Wells Natural History and Archaeological Society. Very rapid progression was made to what is now known as the 40 foot pot. Between 1903 and 1910, in spite of access being banned by the landowner, various trips took place to photograph and explore the passages.
In 1914 the limit of exploration was extended to Twenty Foot Pot, and in 1921 the first of the
sumps was reached, but not passed (despite attempts to make progress by blasting). Sump 1 was finally successfully
dived in 1936, and Sump 2 was passed soon afterwards. By this point a length of cave only one-fifth of the amount known today had been discovered.
[ – which also contains a detailed description of the cave.]
Ever since 1936
caving
Caving, also known as spelunking (United States and Canada) and potholing (United Kingdom and Ireland), is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is the scientific ...
groups have been seeking to extend the explored area of the cave, and thus far eleven principal sumps have been passed. Sump 12 has so far proved impassable. Work continues to find a way through the adjacent Sump 12b.
Access
The entrance to Swildon's Hole is now a small triangular opening contained within a stone blockhouse in a clump of trees north-east of Manor Farm, Priddy.
Swildon's Hole is a very popular cave and there are often several separate groups underground at the same time.
Description
The cave contains an active streamway, which has caused a highly varied cave system. Areas of the system range from low passages, through which
cavers must crawl, to impressive chambers with sheer drops, and from dry fossil passages to thundering waterfalls and its infamous
sumps. A plaque mounted on a stone plinth near Priddy village green shows a plan of the cave, overlaying a map of the village (see right).
The cave exhibits a combination of vadose development (formed above the water table), including continuing formation of the main streamway, and phreatic passages (formed below a latterly lowered water table). These resulted in very different types of passageway, with the phreatic tubes, since abandoned by much of the water, forming an undulating route, much of which is known as the ‘short round trip’.
Only a handful of the 11 principal sumps thus far passed can be dived without dedicated equipment (free-dived).
The length of cave between the sumps are known by the number of the sump at the end of the stretch; thus the stretch between the entrance and Sump 1 is known as Swildon's One, between Sumps 1 and 2 as Swildon's Two, and so on.
Sump 4 can be reached without going through Sumps 1 to 3, via Tratman's Temple, Mud Sump, Fault Chamber and Blue Pencil Passage; parts of this route are extremely difficult.
The connection between Swildon's Hole and
Priddy Green Sink was the first major through route discovered on the Mendip Hills. Following a number of months of digging and blasting, the link was made in 1996 at the top of the Cowsh Avens Series, a climb above Sump 4.
The water in the cave
resurges in
Wookey Hole Caves
Wookey Hole Caves () are a series of limestone caverns, a show cave and tourist attraction in the village of Wookey Hole on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills near Wells in Somerset, England. The River Axe flows through the cave. It is a ...
. This was first demonstrated (by pouring dye into the water) by
Graham Balcombe
Francis Graham Balcombe (8 March 1907 – 19 March 2000) was a pioneer of cave diving in the United Kingdom and a founder of the Cave Diving Group together with Jack Sheppard.
Life and career
Balcombe began rock climbing in the English Lake ...
and
Jack Sheppard
John Sheppard (4 March 1702 – 16 November 1724), nicknamed "Honest Jack", was a notorious English thief and prison escapee of early 18th-century London.
Born into a poor family, he was apprenticed as a carpenter, but began committing thef ...
of the
Cave Diving Group
The Cave Diving Group (CDG) is a United Kingdom-based diver training organisation specialising in cave diving.
The CDG was founded in 1946 by Graham Balcombe, making it the world's oldest continuing diving club. Graham Balcombe and Jack Sh ...
, who first passed Sumps 1 and 2 in the 1930s.
See also
*
Caves of the Mendip Hills
The caves of the Mendip Hills are formed by the particular geology of the Mendip Hills: large areas of limestone worn away by water makes it a national centre for caving. The hills conceal the largest underground river system in Britain.
Geolog ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
*
Forty years in Swildon's Hole, a Laurie & Maurice film, Wessex Cave Club
{{Mendip Hills
Caves of the Mendip Hills
Limestone caves