4 minute read
Caving Phil Hendy
Where does the water go?
IT is natural for cavers to speculate about the possible course of underground water after it vanishes beyond the current farthest reaches of the cave. Various methods have been devised for testing hypotheses, using lycopodium (fern) spores, dyes and other chemicals. These are placed in the stream, and suspected resurgences are sampled until one or more test positive.
In the late 1960s Tim Atkinson and others undertook the Mendip Karst Hydrology Project, which by means of exhaustive testing, established the relationship between our major swallets and associated resurgences.
One connection had already been established. In 1861 Mr. Hodgkinson, proprietor of the Wookey Hole paper mill, sued Nicholas Ennor, who owned the St. Cuthbert’s Lead Works at Priddy. Water used to wash lead ore was discharged underground, into what is now known to be St. Cuthbert’s Swallet.
Hodgkinson claimed that this polluted water emerged at Wookey and was unsuitable for paper-making. He brought a case, which he won in 1861. It was noted, however, that more water issued from the mouth of Wookey Hole than that which sank on the minery, so Wookey was clearly fed by more than one source.
The underground course of the two other major Priddy swallets was disputed for years. In 1901 explorers, led by Herbert Balch, started exploring Swildon’s Hole, eventually reaching the first sump in 1921. Up to that point, the main cave passage trended westwards and it was assumed that the cave would continue, to discharge its water at Cheddar.
But further exploration, beyond the sump, showed that the cave developed southward, towards Wookey Hole. It is now well established that Swildon’s water, together with that from nearby Eastwater Cavern, emerges at Wookey Hole.
The three caves currently end south of the Wells Road between the Hunters’ Lodge Inn and Priddy Green. This road runs at the bottom of a wide shallow valley, which continues past Priddy Green to deepen and become Cheddar Gorge.
The route taken by these streams is currently unknown, although attempts have been made over the years to dig down to intercept it. The valley bottom has several potential dig sites, indeed in 1962 and 1963, collapses occurred near
With PHILIP HENDY
what used to be the Priddy Stores.
Pin Cross, opposite the start of Pelting Road, was once the end of the leat which brought Priddy’s water supply from Fair Lady Well on the Minneries. The route is now largely lost, but excess water at Pin Cross would have sunk underground.
This site, and another which was dug nearby in the 1990s opposite the Queen Victoria Inn, would clearly connect with Swildon’s Hole, where Sump Twelve lies almost directly underneath the inn. Priddy Green Sink, the other site on the Green, has, of course, been connected with Swildon’s Four.
Two miles away, at the Hunters’ Lodge, digging revealed Hunters’ Hole in 1954. A 21 metre pitch leads to a roomy tunnel, with no obvious way on. Nearby, in 2001, Tony Jarratt dug into the 51-metre deep Hunters’ Lodge Inn Sink. Neither of these caves seems to be close to the main line of drainage.
In the field opposite the garage, an excavator was used in 1991 to open Eighteen Acre Swallet, an unstable dig extending downwards for 18 metres. It is almost directly above Sump One in St. Cuthbert’s Swallet, with which it will presumably connect. Diggers now say that they can hear running water, which is encouraging.
Further west, at Lower Pitts Farm, an excavator was again used in 2021 in a boggy patch in the valley bottom. A narrow rift, extending roughly south, with some flowstone on the walls, was exposed. It was dug for a while by the Templeton team before being summarily capped and closed, but last year work started again. This site could well be significant.
Other attempts to enter the so-called Master Cave are being made higher up the hill to the south. Templeton was first dug in 2000, and so far a depth of around 130 metres has been achieved. The main shaft descends vertically for 50 metres, then divides.
To the south, the decorated South Pot was dug into, and beyond that Echo Pot was discovered. There are two mothballed digs at the bottom. The main impetus has been in the North Pot, which extends some way beyond the depth achieved in the South, but has turned south, so lies somewhat below and adjacent to Echo Pot. Progress here is slow.
Further south again, the same team has been digging in a cowshed at Higher Pitts Farm, courtesy of farmer Martin Edwards. This dig, revealed by a collapse, is currently around 40 metres deep, all in conglomerate.
At present, the digs at Lower and Higher Pitts Farms, and Templeton, seem best placed to enter the main streamway between the Priddy swallets and Wookey Hole. A lot of depth still has to be achieved, but there is no lack of enthusiasm. As Tony Jarratt used to say, Keep on Diggin’.
