Cheddar Gorge

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Cheddar Gorge is the largest gorge in the United Kingdom

Cheddar Gorge is the largest gorge in the United Kingdom^[1] near the village of Cheddar in the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England. The gorge is the site of the Cheddar Caves, where Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, Cheddar Man, estimated to be 9,000 years old, was found in 1903.^[2] Older remains from the Upper Late Palaeolithic era (12,000–13,000 years ago) have been found.^[3] The caves, produced by the activity of an underground river, contain stalactites and stalagmites.

Cheddar Gorge, including the caves and other attractions (village stores and stalls ect), has become a tourist destination. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, following its appearance on the 2005 television programme Seven Natural Wonders, Cheddar Gorge was named as the second greatest natural wonder in Britain, surpassed only by Dan yr Ogof caves.^[4] The gorge attracts about 500,000 visitors per year.^[5]

[edit] Geography

Part of Cheddar Gorge, showing the cliff faces to the south (right hand side of picture) and the easier slopes to the north. Taken from an aircraft.

Cheddar is Britain's largest gorge, lying on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills.^[6] The maximum depth of the gorge is 113 m (371 ft), with a near-vertical cliff-face to the south, and steep grassy slopes to the north. The B3135 road runs along the bottom of the gorge.

The area is underlain by Black Rock Limestone, Burrington Oolite and Clifton Down Limestone of the Carboniferous Limestone Series, which contain ooliths and fossil debris, on top of Old Red Sandstone and by Dolomitic Conglomerate of the Keuper. Evidence for Variscan orogeny is seen in the sheared rock and cleaved shales. In many places weathering of these strata has resulted in the formation of immature calcareous soils.^[7]

The gorge was formed by meltwater floods during the cold periglacial periods which have occurred over the last 1.2 million years. During the ice ages permafrost blocked the caves with ice and frozen mud and made the limestone impermeable. When this melted during the summers water was forced to flow on the surface, and carved out the gorge.^[8] During warmer periods the water flowed underground through the permeable limestone, creating the caves and leaving the gorge dry, so that today much of the gorge has no river until the underground Cheddar Yeo emerges in the lower part from Gough's Cave. The river is used by Bristol Water, who maintain a series of dams and ponds which supply the nearby Cheddar Reservoir,^[9][10] via a 137-centimetre (54 in) diameter pipe that takes water just upstream of the Rotary Club Sensory Garden, a public park in the gorge opposite Jacob's Ladder

[edit] Ecology

The gorge is part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest now called Cheddar Complex.^[7]

The south side of the gorge is owned and administered by the Marquess of Bath's Longleat Estate.^[11] The cliffs on the north side of the gorge are owned by The National Trust.^[12] Every year both of the gorge's owners contribute funds towards the clearance of scrub bush and trees from the area. Longleat Estate has fenced off a large part of its land and has introduced goats, as part of a programme to encourage the biodiversity of the area; the goats were intended to replace the sheep that grazed in the gorge until the 1970s.^[13] The National Trust announced in March 2007 that they plan to release a flock of sheep on its side of the gorge for the same purpose, but will first consult local residents and interested parties on whether to fence off the gorge or introduce cattle grids to prevent the sheep from straying.^[14] There is already a small flock of feral Soay sheep in the gorge. Other notable species at the gorge include dormice, yellow-necked mice, slow worms and adders and the rare large blue butterfly (Maculinea arion),^[15] and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene).^[7]

A wide variety of wild birds can be seen in the gorge including peregrine falcons, buzzards, kestrels, ravens^[16] and the Grasshopper Warbler (Locustella naevia).^[7]

The flora include whitebeams, chalk grassland-loving species such as marjoram and wild thyme.^[15] The Cheddar Pink, (Dianthus gratianopolitanus), also known as Firewitch,^[6] a type of Dianthus only grows in the wild in the gorge.^[17] It was once common in the gorge but declined after being picked by collectors. Now, following legal protection, the flowers are making a slow comeback.^[18] The nationally rare Little Robin Geranium (purpureum), and Cheddar Bedstraw (Galium fleurotii) and the nationally scarce species include Slender Tare (Vicia tenuissima), Dwarf Mouse-ear (Cerastium pumilum) and Rock Stonecrop (Sedum forsteranum) also occur in the gorge.^[7] It is one of the very few areas in southern Britain where the lichens Solorina saccata, Squamaria cartilaginea and Caloplaca cirrochroa can be found.^[7]

[edit] Caves

Stalagmites and stalactites in Gough's cave

Two main caves are open to the public – the extensive Gough's Cave and the smaller Cox's Cave, named after their respective discoverers. Both are known for their geology, and it has been suggested that the caves were the site of prehistoric cheese-making.^[19] Gough's cave, which was discovered in 1903,^[20] leads around 400 metres (437 yd) into the rock-face, and contains a variety of large rock chambers and formations. Cox's Cave, discovered in 1837,^[21] is smaller but contains many intricate formations. A further cave houses a children's entertainment known as the "Crystal Quest".^[22]

The Gorge's many caves are home to colonies of Greater and Lesser horseshoe bats.^[23]

In 1999 the Channel 4 Time Team television programme investigated Cooper's Hole to see if they could find evidence of Palaeolithic human activity.^[24]

[edit] Recreational use

There are about 350 officially graded climbing routes on the 27 cliffs that make up Cheddar Gorge, which are generally open to climbers between 1 October and 15 March each year. Each of the routes is named and included in the British Mountaineering Council guidebook. Although the majority of the climbs are "trad" or "traditional", which means that the leader places protection as they go up, there are also some "sport" routes where bolts are left in place. Climber Chris Bonnington was the first to scale the Coronation Street route in 1965.^[25]

Visitors to the gorge have experienced a number of accidents.^[26][27] Rescue services, including local mountain rescue and cave rescue groups, frequently use the gorge to stage exercises. It is also used as a training location for military rescue helicopter pilots.^[28]

[edit] Other attractions

A museum inspired by the discovery of ancient hominids such as Cheddar Man contains information about the caves and their palaeontological development. There is a clifftop walk from Jacob's Ladder along the crest of the gorge and back to the road, with views of the gorge. A caving experience is offered within Gough's Cave. There is a path of 275 steps, built up the side of the gorge, known as Jacob's Ladder after the Biblical description of a ladder to the heavens. A watchtower at the top provides a 360–degree view of the entire area and village. An open-top bus tour operates during the summer. Cheddar cheese is made in the lower part of the gorge.

View of Cheddar Village, reservoir, Batts Combe quarry and gorge taken from the watchtower at the top of Jacob's Ladder

[edit] Cultural references

Cheddar Gorge is a panel game played on the BBC Radio 4 series I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.^[29] The gorge was used as a location for a Chimeran Tower in the Resistance: Fall of Man, a science fiction first-person shooter video game for the PlayStation 3, developed by Insomniac Games.^[30]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Geology of the United Kingdom
• Seven Natural Wonders

[edit] External links

• Cheddar Caves and Gorge, a commercial company operating some of the tourist attractions it the Gorge
• Extensive visitor information and photographs - virtualtourist.com
• map of Cheddar Gorge circa 1900

Coordinates: 51°16′57″N 2°45′56″W / 51.282409°N 2.765460°W / 51.282409; -2.765460