"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