St Cuthbert's Swallet
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| St Cuthbert's Swallet | |
|---|---|
| Location | Priddy |
| Depth | 145 metres (476 ft) |
| Length | 6.7 kilometres (4 mi) |
| Coordinates | grid reference ST543505 |
| Geology | Limestone |
| Access | Bristol Exploration Club |
St Cuthbert's Swallet (grid reference ST543505) is a cave which forms a major part of the Priddy Caves system in the limestone of the Mendip Hills, in Somerset, England.
A swallet, also known as a sinkhole, sink, shakehole, swallow hole, or doline is a natural depression or hole in the surface topography caused by the removal of soil or bedrock, often both, by water flowing beneath the water-table at considerable depth. Water entering this swallet reemerges at Wookey Hole.
St Cuthbert’s Swallet, which was discovered in 1953, is a classic example of a deep phreatic cave system at a depth of not less than 280 feet (85 m) beneath the contemporary water table.[1] It contains inclined bedding plane mazes at many levels, fault-guided rifts and some significant chambers. Nine successive phases of sediment deposition, stalagmite deposition and stream erosion have been recognised at the site, providing an exceptional record of environmental change through the warm and cold phases of the Ice Age.
St. Cuthbert's Swallet is attractive to cavers, for its complexity and size, reaching over 6.7 km and a depth of 145m, and having numerous large decorated chambers, forming phreatic mazes on seven distinct levels. Among its displays are large and impressive calcite groups such as the 'Curtains', 'Cascade', Gour Hall with its 20 feet (6.1 m) high gour, 'The Beehive', Canyon Series and the 'Balcony' formations in September Chamber, perhaps some of the best in Britain. There are also mini-formations including floating calcite crystals, over twenty nests of "cave pearls", and delicate fern-like crystals less than four millimetres long.[2]
The cave has also been identified as an important site for the study of cave insects. Oligaphorura (formerly Archaphorura) schoetti are troglophiles, reaching 1.7 millimetres (0.07 in) in length and it is common in many caves. Most specimens are female but a male specimen was collected from St. Cuthbert's Swallet in 1969.[3]
St Cuthbert's Swallet is part of, and lies underneath, the Priddy Pools, Site of Special Scientific Interest.[4] In the citation this is given as St Cuthbert's Cave, which should not be confused with St Cuthbert's Cave in Northumberland.
The cave is locked and access is controlled by the Bristol Exploration Club on behalf of the land owners.
[edit] References
- ^ Derek C. Ford (October 1965). "The Origin of Limestone Caverns: A Model from the Central Mendip Hills, England" (in English). Bulletin of the National Speleological Society 27 (4): 109–132. ISSN 0146-9517.
- ^ How do I book a trip to go down St Cuthberts?. Bristol Exploration Club. Retrieved on 2007-01-27.
- ^ Oligaphorura schoetti in Uk and Ireland. Collembola of Britain and Ireland. Retrieved on 2007-01-27.
- ^ Priddy Pools. English Nature. Retrieved on 2006-07-17.
[edit] See also
