Cox's Cave
| Cox's Cave | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 Stalagmites and stalactites reflected in Cox's cave | |
| Location: | Cheddar |
| ST46465390 | |
| Co-ordinates: | 51°16’54"N, 2°46’8"W |
| Length: | 330 feet |
| Geology: | Carboniferous limestone |
| Website: | Cox's Cave |
Cox's Cave is in Cheddar Gorge on the Mendip Hills, in Somerset. It is opened to the public as a show cave.
The cave is named after the mill owner, George Cox, who discovered it in 1837, while quarrying limestone for a new building.[1][2] Cox immediately opened it as a show cave the following year and ran it as a private enterprise until the landowner, Thomas Thynne, 5th Marquess of Bath, took it over at the beginning of the 20th century.[3]
The cave was connected by a tunnel to the adjacent artificial Pavey's Cave in 1987.[4]
Cox's Cave consists of seven small grottoes, joined by low archways. One section of the cave is known as the Home of the Rainbow, where traces of minerals have been brought in from the surface, and have given the stalagmites a wide range of colour, from nearly black, green, and orange to pure white. The famous French speleologist, Édouard-Alfred Martel, visited this cave and declared that "out of 600 caves, Cox's was admired the most".[5]
Outside links
- Cheddar Gorge Show Caves
- "Cox's Cave". Mendip Cave Registry & Archive. http://www.mcra.org.uk/registry/sitedetails.php?id=899.
References
- ↑ "Cox's Cave". Cheddar Caves. http://www.cheddarcaves.co.uk/section.php?xSec=22. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
- ↑ Johnson, Peter (1967). The History of Mendip Caving. Newton Abbot: David & Charles.
- ↑ Thynn, Alexander (30 November 2002). Strictly Private to Public Exposure Book 1: The Early Years: Early Years Book 1 (Plateful of Privilege). Artnik. p. 52. ISBN 1-903906-24-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=k9xEPeb7RL0C&pg=PA52&dq=cox%27s+cave&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=xPOZSOjgC534tAOilKD1CQ&sig=ACfU3U0efbk9L53aQked3JgJzQccmIbOzw#PPA57,M1.
- ↑ Gray, Alan; Taviner, Rob; Witcombe, Richard (2013). Mendip Underground, A Caver's Guide (Fifth ed.). Mendip Cave Registry and Archives. p. 229. ISBN 978-09531310-5-1.
- ↑ "The Caves of Cheddar Gorge". Show Caves of Britain. http://www.showcaves.com/english/gb/showcaves/CheddarOldham.html. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
- Gray, Alan; Taviner, Rob; Witcombe, Richard: 'Mendip Underground, A Caver's Guide', 5th ed. (Mendip Cave Registry and Archives, 2013) ISBN 978-09531310-5-1 page 104</ref>