Not being much of a caveman my heart sank when I saw the Wombeyan cave shot chosen as this week's feature.
However the local flea
market came to my rescue when I found this postcard.
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| Solomon's Temple, Gough's Cave, Cheddar Gorge |
Cheddar Gorge in Somerset is famous for its caves; it's a spectacular place to visit and is a favourite for those hardy souls who spend their time rock climbing
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| Rift Cave |
There can’t be much
doubt how that cave’s name came about.
A number of the caves
have great shows of stalactites and stalagmites.
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| Cox's Cave showing stalactites and stalagmites |
Some 40,000 years ago
the inhabitants were said to have practised cannibalism, yet 200 years ago the
Gorge was little known and the track to it had been abandoned following tales of
ghostly attacks by beings from the hillside.
Modern ghost busters
who spent the night at Cox's Mill nearby reported light anomalies, a sudden feeling
of sickness and a face that appeared from the wood panelling around the
fireplace.
However if it’s spooks
you want, then the place to be in Somerset is undoubted the caves at Wookey
Hole.
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| Wookey Hole Cave and underground river |
Human remains, pottery
and crude jewellery have provided evidence that the caves were inhabited by
Stone Age hunters.
The caves have been formed by millions of years of erosion
by the River Axe. Many stalactites and stalagmites have been left behind. One
large stalagmite is said to be the Witch of Wookey, turned to stone for her
evil deeds.
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| The Witch of Wookey |
Supposedly, the witch
lived in the caves with a goat and its kid as her familiars; crossed in love
she cast spells on the Wookey villagers. A monk sent to the cave by the Abbot
of Glastonbury sprinkled her with holy water. She turned to stone where she
stands today on the bank of the Axe in Wookey’s Great Cave.
In 1912 excavations in
the caves discovered the bones of a Romano-British woman with, nearby, the
bones of a goat and kid, a comb, a dagger and a round stalagmite like a witch’s
crystal ball. The relics are on show in the Wells and Mendip Museum.
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| Skeleton labelled the Witch of Wookey (Wells and Mendip Museum |
My trips underground
have been restricted to the Tube and to old copper mines at Alderley Edge in
Cheshire – not haunted, I’m pleased to say.
If you fancy yourself
as a speleologist then cross over and follow the links at Sepia-saturday-183.
Photo Attributions:
- Rift Cave - Nov 1967 by John Reston - Geograph Project Collection, CC BY-SA 2,0
- Cox's Cave - Oct 2008 by Throwawayhack - CC BY-SA 3,0
- Wookey Hole Cave - April 2012 by Becks - CC BY 2.0
- Wookey Map and the Witch of Wookey - freepages-folklore. ancestry.com
- Skeleton in Wells and Mendip Museum - June 2013 by Rodw - CC BY-SA 3.0
