|
| Image: the walk from the parking lot to the cave is hemmed by shops and cafes. |
| Location: |
Wookey Hole, near Wells.
 Location by UK Streetmap
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| Open: | APR to OCT daily 10-17. NOV to MAR daily 10-16. Times of first and last tour. Closed 25-DEC. [2006] |
| Fee: |
Adults £10.90, Children (4-16) £8.50, Concession £8.50, Family (2+2) £34. Groups (+): Adults £8.90, Children (4-16) £6.90, Concession £6.90. Schools: Adults £8.90, Children (4-16) £6, 1 adult free for every 10 children. [2006] |
| Classification: |
karst cave,
 river cave.
|
| Light: | electric |
| Dimension: | L=68m. |
| Guided tours: | D=2h. (includes all attractions) |
| Bibliography: |
T.R. Shaw (1996):
Why some caves become famous - Wookey Hole, England,
Cave & Karst Science 23(1), 17-23; Bridgwater. |
| Address: |
Wookey Hole Caves, Wookey Hole, Wells, Somerset, BA5 1BB, Tel: +44-1749-672243, Fax: +44-1749-677749.
E-mail: |
| Last update: | $Date: 2007/11/06 19:16:18 $ |
| The cave was first visited by celts who were able to bury their dead in chamber 4. Later the water filled the link between chamber 3 and 4. | ||
| 1040 | first record of a mill at Wookey. | |
| 1703 | first guided tour in Wookey Hole. | |
| 1857 | workmen digging the canal of the papermill find remains of prehistoric man and the bones of animals. | |
| 1912 | archaeologist Herbert Balch excavates the almost complete skeleton of an old woman. | |
| 1935 | the first cave diving expedition of the world happened in Wookey Hole. | |
| 1948 | Chamber 8-9 and in a second expedition chamber 10-11 were discovered. | |
| 1951 | mill sold to the Inveresk Paper Co. | |
| ???? | installation of the first electric lighting by the electrical engineer Christopher Aloysius Carroll. | |
| 29-SEP-2004 | John Volanthen and Rick Slanton dive 45m deep. |
 |
| Image: a 3d model shown in the cave museum of Wookey Hole. |
The entrance to the cave is on the right, chamber one to three are dry, the other chambers are filled with water. Most of the chambers are high and narrow clefts. They are only accessible by artificial tunnels or to cave divers.
Wookey Hole lies in the same limestone ridge as the famous
Cheddar gorge,
only a few kilometers to the south.
The exit of Wookey Hole is the source of the river Axe.
 |
| Image: Chamber three. |
Very spectacular for speleology was the first cave diving expedition of history, which happend 1935 at Wookey Hole. Penelope Powell and Graham Balcombe discovered chamber four to seven. And the most exciting fact was, that the first cave diver was a woman! Later, 1948, they made two more expeditions, using diving gear developed through World War II. First they discovered chamber 8 and 9 and then chamber 10 and 11. Robert Parker made the so far deepest dive in 1985 arriving a depth of 68m.
Chamber three is famous for its size. It is a huge solution dome eroded by the river axe. In comparison to its rather low ceiling, the room has an extreme diameter.
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| Wookey Hole Gallery |
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