Table Of Content"THE ARCHANGEL'S WING" IN "KING SOLOMON'S TEMPLE"
GOUGH'S CAVES, CHEDDAR From a painting by Mrs. Ruth Murrell
FRONTISPIECE]
jttenbtp—
Cijebbar, itó
(gorge anb Catotó
H. E. BALCH, M.A., F.S.A.
Wviötol :
JOHN WRIGHT 8c SONS. LTD.
bonbon :
SIMPK1N. MARSHALL (1941) LTD.
FIRST EDITION, I935
SECOND EDITION, I947
To William Wyndham Esq,
of Orchard Wyndham,
This, in gratitude
PREFACE
TO THE SECOND EDITION
THE ever growing interest in the Mendip Caves and the consider-
able further demand gives an opportunity to bring this little
book up to date.
Whilst including in this book a chapter on Swildon's Hole
at Priddy, which I still think is the head of the Cheddar system, I
include in the third book of the Mendip Cave series a fuller
section on that cave, with many illustrations and the story of the
great and successful efforts which have further extended our
knowledge of the depths of Mendip.
Of even greater importance is the discovery of the great
swallet caves nearer Blackdown and draining into the Cheddar
system. These caves find their most appropriate place in the third
book of this series, where they are represented by excellent
articles written by their discoverers.
The end of the story of Cheddar is still far to seek and I look
forward to great things to be done by the cave men of the new
generation. They will reach the underground river.
I am still without information as to many objects of antiquity
which have been removed from the Caves of Cheddar and I
repeat the appeal that information of the kind may be sent to me.
I am grateful to Mrs. Murrell for her beautiful painting of
the "Archangel's Wing" for the frontispiece, to Mr. Harry
Savory and Mr. E. D. Evens for their lovely photographs, and
to Messrs. Clare of Wells for their loan of the blocks used in
former editions of my Cave books.
To all helpers in the work of research at Cheddar, I repeat
my best thanks and wish them good luck in future.
Η. E. BALCH
Wells Museum, 1946
iv
LIST OF FIGURES IN THE TEXT
Page
ι " Baton " or Shaft-straightener, Gouges Caves, Cheddar 22
2 Tally, Gough's Caves, Cheddar .. . . .. 25
3 Engraved Pebble, Gough's Caves, Cheddar .. .. 26
4 Neolithic Celt, Soldier's Hole .. .. .. 42
5 Neolithic Flint, Soldier's Hole .. .. . . 43
6 Bone Discs, Soldier's Hole .. . . . . 44
7 Bone Needle, Soldier's Hole . . . . .. 44
8 Spindle Whorl, Soldier's Hole . . . . . . 45
9 Bone Implements, Chelm's Combe .. .. 47
10 Bronze Fibula, Chelm's Combe .. . . . . 48
11 Flint Scrapers, Chelm's Combe .. .. .. 53
vi
LIST OF PLATES
FRONTISPIECE. In colour. " The Archangel's Wing " in " King
Solomon's Temple," Gough's Caves, Cheddar.
Page
ι Entrance to Cheddar Gorge .. .. .. ι
2 Entrance to Cheddar Gorge, 1780 . . . . . . 1
3 Cooper's Hole, Cheddar—Section . . . . . . 9
4 The Fonts, Gough's Caves, Cheddar .. .. 16
5 The Grotto, Gough's Caves, Cheddar .. . . 17
6 Magdalenian Flints, Gough's Caves, Cheddar .. 21
7 The Extinct Animals of Cheddar . . . . . . 24
8 Niagara Falls in Winter, Gough's Caves, Cheddar .. 24
9 St. Paul's, Gough's Caves, Cheddar . . . . . . 25
10 Aladdin's Cave, Gough's Caves, Cheddar . . .. 25
11 The Roman Coins of Cheddar . . . . . . 32
12 In King Solomon's Temple, Gough's Caves, Cheddar . . 32
13 Pottery of Romano-British Cave Dwellers of Cheddar .. 33
14 Iron Weapons of Romano-British Cave Dwellers of
Cheddar .. . . . . . . .. 35
15 The Cheddar Man Skeleton restored . . .. 40
16 Magdalenian Man of Cheddar, Gough's Caves, Cheddar 41
17 Magdalenian and Solutrian Flints of Soldier's Hole,
Cheddar .. . . . . . . . . 49
18 Gough's Cave, Decorated Spindle-whorl and Cheek-piece 55
19 The Gorge Deepens—showing crumbling of the Northern
face . . . . . . .. . . 56
20 " Where Cheddar rears its Castellated Brow "—The
Pinnacles . . . . . . . . . . 56
21 The Unclimbable face of Cheddar Cliffs, and the Axe Moor 57
22 In the White Way, Swildon's Hole . . . . 57
23 Chelm's Combe, Cheddar—Cave Shelter. Plan .. 60
24 Chelm's Combe, Cheddar—Cave Shelter. Section . . 61
25 The Head of Cheddar Gorge . . .. .. 72
26 Stalagmite Pool, Swildon's Hole . . .. .. 72
27 Beautiful Grotto, Swildon's Hole . . .. .. 73
28 Neolithic Man of Cheddar, his Pottery and Weapons .. 73
29 Speaker's Mace, Cox's Cave, Cheddar .. .. 80
30 The Transformation Scene, Cox's Cave, Cheddar .. 88
31 Diamond Strean, Gough's Caves, Cheddar .. .. 88
32 Chelm's Combe, Cheddar—Rock Shelter .. .. 97
33 Chelm's Comb, Cheddar—Rock Tomb .. .. 97
vii
Cïieb&ar,
m tèorge anb Catoesi
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
THE Gorge of Cheddar has attracted the interest of mankind for
ages past. No one can look unmoved on that stupendous pile
of rocks which overwhelms the beholder with its sublime majesty
Under all conditions supremely beautiful, it is most impressive
at those times when one can stand there in solitude and silence,
and let it make its quiet appeal, undisturbed by the ever growing
traffic of summer days.
Thus it was when, long ago, Burrow, the old Mendip poet
(1849) wrote of what he and most of us have felt:
"... now stand below
Where Cheddar rears its castellated brow,
See like some fortress that, embattled, throws
Its proud defiance to surrounding foes.
So, from the gorge, precipitous arise
Its beetling cliffs, stupendous, to the skies.
I've seen crags frown as proudly in the air,
I've heard the breakers roar at Finisterre,
From Arran have I watched the rising sun,
And scared old Ailsa's sea-fowl with the gun ;
Up Shakespeare's Cliff I've dared my venturous way,
And scaled the rock that guards Gibraltar's Bay.
Yet none of these so much my thoughts impress
With the deep sense of human littleness."
Turning in and out, with many a tortuous bend, the direction
of the Gorge is generally east and west, not as a mighty crack across
Β I
a CHEDDAR, ITS GORGE AND CAVES
the anticline of Mendip, but rather following the strike of the
rocks, along the line of their dip, and thus providing evidence of
its origin.
Who can doubt what the origin has been, as he stands at the
great "rising" below Gough's Cave, when Mendip pours forth
its mighty volume of water, after heavy rain.
Not from one mouth or two does the torrent well forth, the
greatest spring in Mendip. From the main rising near the Cave,
a great flood rushes; from near the cottage below comes a consid-
erable augmentation of the stream, and out of sight, from beneath
the roadway where they are bridged over, several other large
springs all unite in the beautiful little lake, (Plate i), to pour over
the lovely waterfall behind the Cliff Hotel in great and impressive
volume. Collinson (1791) said that in his day, nine springs could
be counted within 40 yards of each other.
Under these conditions one may perhaps visualise what is going
on away back in the hill behind Gough's Cave, where a consider-
able system of waterways, not yet reached by the explorer,
beckons for ever to draw him on, with dreams of finding some-
thing akin to the subterranean river of Wookey Hole, sister cave
to this of Cheddar.
Both of these, and the great overflowing well of St. Andrew at
Wells, have a common origin in the swallet caves of Mendip, far
away, and all to this day (1946) defy the explorer's efforts to enter
with the stream on the hills above, and traverse the whole distance
to the outlet. The cause of the failure to do this lies in the numer-
ous traps, and passages blocked with debris and water, which bar
the way.
Not so long ago the Cheddar stream was captured and impris-
oned in its lake and river bed. The accompanying illustration
from a rare old print (Plate 2) shows what the entrance of the
Gorge was like 200 years ago. If one had approached from the
low land to the south, the water would have been seen to spread
quite across the way. For this reason, the narrow road hugging
the cliff on the southern side was built, and was carried over
several springs that here break forth into the beautiful pond above
the Cliff Hotel, so being carried on till the vicinity of the main
rising (by Gough's Cave) was reached. Not once or twice have
INTRODUCTORY 3
the subterranean channels proved inadequate to carry the torrents
of water from some cloudburst on the hills, for the discharge
of which the outlets have been far too small. Under these
circumstances a torrent has swept down the Gorge, and into the
village, another has welled up from within, and poured through
the gateway of Gough's Cave, the deep well-shaped hole near the
entrance discharging water upwards, instead of allowing an
escape for the overwhelming torrent. There is little doubt that the
total discharge of water at Cheddar in flood exceeds 100,000,000
gallons a day.
Attempts to plumb the deep hole have failed at 70 feet by the
current snapping the cord.
There are evidences that long ago similar floods have swept
down from Charterhouse, bearing with them charcoal and
sediments, which have filled cavities in the Gorge, relics of the
open-hearth smelting of lead, which at Charterhouse, as at Priddy,
led to the accumulation of great quantities of these materials on
the surface.
As we proceed, we shall see in later chapters that the hidden
stream of the Cheddar water is not alone, but is part, and an
important part, of a great system of underground channels to
some extent known to us, and to a greater extent still unknown,
which, while producing the three great risings before mentioned,
have had a most powerful influence in moulding the shape of old
Mendip. Nay more, they appear to have been in no small
measure responsible for the degradation of the hills from their
lofty height of ancient days. How great a part they played has yet
to be proved.
An outstanding fact in regard to the Caves of Cheddar, as
elsewhere, is that to them the thoughts of men of all ages have
turned as places of shelter in times of fear and peril, and have
often done so recently when danger threatened from the skies.
Many men have slept and stored their ammunition in these safe
shelters during the recent war years, and decaying beds are not
unknown to-day. This custom is not only evident when proved
by the results of pick and spade, for it was the first thought of the
prophet Isaiah when he spoke of the terrible calamities he foresaw
would come on his beloved land. Every country and every era
