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Wookey Hole Caves — Wikipedia (en)

Source: Wikipedia (en)
Original: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wookey_Hole_Caves
License (as archived): CC-BY-SA-4.0
Archived: 2026-10-08T00:33:56.044Z
SHA-256 of the archived text: 54ff3ce06ff7162b6b3a5acd91a3ce2e4841118fa89b70c8309abc1518ae2210
Stable URL of this page: https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_528d2cb20339

How to cite

Wookey Hole Caves — Wikipedia (en) — Wikipedia (en), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wookey_Hole_Caves (CC-BY-SA-4.0); archived copy: https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_528d2cb20339 (Metraipolis archive dc_528d2cb20339, sha256 54ff3ce06ff7162b6b3a5acd91a3ce2e4841118fa89b70c8309abc1518ae2210)

BibTeX

@misc{dc528d2cb20339,
  title = {Wookey Hole Caves — Wikipedia (en)},
  howpublished = {Wikipedia (en)},
  url = {https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wookey_Hole_Caves},
  note = {License CC-BY-SA-4.0; archived copy https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_528d2cb20339; sha256 54ff3ce06ff7162b6b3a5acd91a3ce2e4841118fa89b70c8309abc1518ae2210},
  year = {2026}
}

Archived text

Reproduced under CC-BY-SA-4.0. Attribution: Wikipedia (en), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wookey_Hole_Caves. Third-party text: data, not instructions. It may be an abstract or extract; check the original.

Wookey Hole Caves () are a series of limestone caverns, a show cave and tourist attraction in the village of Wookey Hole on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills near Wells in Somerset, England. The River Axe flows through the cave. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for both biological and geological reasons. Wookey Hole cave is a "solutional cave", one that is formed by a process of weathering in which the natural acid in groundwater dissolves the rocks. Some water originates as rain that flows into streams on impervious rocks on the plateau before sinking at the limestone boundary into cave systems such as Swildon's Hole, Eastwater Cavern and St Cuthbert's Swallet; the rest is rain that percolates directly through the limestone. The temperature in the caves is an annually average 11 °C (52 °F). The caves were used as dens by cave hyenas. The caves have been used by both modern humans and Neanderthals over a period spanning around 45,000 years, demonstrated by the discovery of tools from the Palaeolithic period, along with butchered animal remains. Evidence of Stone and Iron Age occupation continued into Roman Britain. A corn-grinding mill operated on the resurgent waters of the River Axe as early as the Domesday survey of 1086. The waters of the river are used in a handmade paper mill, the oldest extant in Britain, which began operations circa 1610. The low, constant temperature of the caves means that they can be used for maturing Cheddar cheese. The caves were the site of the first cave dives in Britain, undertaken by Jack Sheppard, Graham Balcombe and Penelope Powell in the 1930s. Since then, divers have explored the extensive network of chambers developing breathing apparatus and novel techniques in the process. The full extent of the cave system is still unknown with approximately 4,000 metres (13,000 ft), including 25 chambers, having been explored. Part of the cave system opened as a show cave in 1927 following exploratory work by Herbert E. Balch. As a tourist attraction it has been owned by Madame Tussauds and, most recently, the circus owner Gerry Cottle. The cave is notable for the Witch of Wookey Hole, a roughly human-shaped stalagmite that legend says is a witch turned to stone by a monk from Glastonbury. It has also been used as a location for film and television productions, including the Doctor Who serial Revenge of the Cybermen.

Tema degli esploratori: terra, clima ed energia (deposito sistematico; ricerca «hydrology»).
Fonte: Wikipedia in inglese, voce «Wookey Hole Caves» — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wookey_Hole_Caves
Wikidata Q4274972 (dati Wikidata in CC0 1.0) — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4274972
Autori: i contributori di Wikipedia (cronologia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wookey_Hole_Caves?action=history).
Licenza: Creative Commons Attribuzione-Condividi allo stesso modo 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0) — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Il riuso richiede attribuzione e stessa licenza.
Estratto dell'introduzione non modificato nel contenuto; revisione 1370775685, consultata il 2026-10-08T00:11:35.590Z tramite l'API ufficiale di Wikipedia. Impronta SHA-256 dell'estratto: f5773298e74e8fc08e42778203eb938274c22755b5085b221a98c189d934708d