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Wookey Hole Caves The Wookey Hole is a system of underground caves beneath the Mendip Hills. The River Axe over thousands of years has eroded the limestone, creating an underground landscape of fantastic rock formations and vaulted caverns, and one of the largest natural underground domes in Europe (limestone's a permeable rock, and rainwater contains acid which dissolves some of the limestone and carries it away. As the water flows underground, it widens the cracks in the limestone and underground streams can then form large caves as at Wookey Hole). The earliest Stone Age man sheltered here too. People who lived in the valley of Wookey Hole 50,000 years ago were aware of the great caves, and used them as a home. The Celtic peoples farmed the nearby fertile valley floors and also used the caves as a place to keep their livestock - it was a safe and comfortable place to live and to keep animals with the temperature a constant 11° Celsius. The first ever cave dive was made in the Witch's Parlour in 1935, twenty five caverns have now been discovered, and the cave system is still being explored. Ancient folklore raises its head in the shape of the Witch of Wookey Hole. Legend has it that a Glastonbury monk once splashed holy water on the witch, turning her to stone. The stone, with a close resemblance to a witch, shelters in the caves. Conjecture or fact? Well, it's a legend, so you don't really get to find out, but you can use your imagination. There are cave tours, 40 minutes long, should you visit the caves and walk the bridges that traverse the underground course of the River Axe and the open caves at Wookey. Wookey Hole Information Wookey Holes Cave |
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