Mendip caves

Introduction | Cheddar catchment | Wookey catchment | Burrington area | Eastern Mendip | Western Mendip

The Burrington area

On the northern side of Blackdown, numerous small caves occur around Burrington Combe. Popular with novice cavers, many of these caves are complex phreatic mazes.

Some are stream sinks, notably Read's Cavern and East Twin Swallet, although the water cannot be followed far. Many are relict stream sinks, long abandoned by the formative stream. These caves include Rod’s Pot, Lionel’s Hole and the popular beginners' caves Goatchurch Cavern and Sidcot Swallet. The water from these caves resurges at springs in Rickford and Langford, but neither springs have any known cave passage. Aveline’s Hole, near the foot of Burrington Combe, once functioned as a resurgence, and has also been used as a Mesolithic cemetery. It also contains some Mesolithic cave art.

To the east of Burrington, Lamb Leer Cavern discovered by miners about 1674, contains one of the largest chambers on Mendip.