St Cuthbert's Swallet is the second longest, and most complex, 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 ...

, 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 forms a major part of the Priddy Caves 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 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 ...

. 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 Sump may refer to: * An infiltration basin used to manage surface runoff water and recharge underground aquifers * Sump (cave), a permanently flooded section of a cave, where an underground flow of water exits the cave into the earth such that t ...

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 solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

deposition,

stalagmite A stalagmite (, ; ; ) is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically composed of calcium carbonate, but may consist ...

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 g ...

. 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 Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

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: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. 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 The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

-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, macrosc ...

less than long. The cave has also been identified as an important site for the study of

cave insects Cave-dwelling insects are among the most widespread and prominent troglofauna (cave-dwelling animals), including troglobites, troglophiles, and trogloxenes. As a category of ecological adaptations, such insects are significant in many senses, eco ...

. ''Oligaphorura'' (formerly ''Archaphorura'') ''schoetti'' (a type of

springtail Springtails (class Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern Hexapoda, hexapods that are no longer considered insects. Although the three lineages are sometimes grouped together in a class called Entognatha because they have in ...

) is a

troglophile Troglofauna are small cave-dwelling animals that have adapted to their dark surroundings. Troglofauna and stygofauna are the two types of subterranean fauna (based on life-history). Both are associated with subterranean environments – troglofa ...

, 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