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Wookey Hole Caves are a series of limestone caverns, show cave and tourist attraction in the village of Wookey Hole on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills near Wells in Somerset, England. The River Axe flows through the cave.〔 It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for both biological and geological reasons.〔 Wookey Hole cave is a "solutional cave", one that is formed by a process of weathering in which the natural acid in groundwater dissolves the rocks. Some water originates as rain that flows into streams on impervious rocks on the plateau before sinking at the limestone boundary into cave systems such as Swildon's Hole, Eastwater Cavern and St Cuthbert's Swallet; the rest is rain that percolates directly through the limestone. The temperature in the caves is a constant . The caves have been used by humans for around 45,000 years, demonstrated by the discovery of tools from the Palaeolithic period, along with fossilised animal remains. Evidence of Stone and Iron Age occupation continued into Roman Britain. A corn grinding mill operated on the resurgent waters of the River Axe as early as 1086. The waters of the river are used in a handmade paper mill, the oldest extant in Britain, which began operations circa 1610. The low temperature of the caves means that they can be used for maturing Cheddar cheese. The caves are the site of the first cave dives in Britain which were undertaken by Jack Sheppard and Graham Balcombe. Since the 1930s divers have explored the extensive network of chambers developing breathing apparatus and novel techniques in the process. The full extent of the cave system is still unknown with approximately , including 25 chambers, having been explored. Part of the cave system opened as a show cave in 1927 following exploratory work by Herbert E. Balch. As a tourist attraction it has been owned by Madame Tussauds and, most recently, the circus owner Gerry Cottle. The cave is noted for the Witch of Wookey Hole – a roughly human shaped stalagmite that legend says is a witch turned to stone by a monk from Glastonbury. It has also been used as a location for film and television productions. ==Description== The show cave consists of a dry gallery connecting three large chambers, the first of which contains the Witch of Wookey formation. There are various high level passages leading off from these chambers, with two small exits above the tourist entrance. The River Axe is formed by the water entering the cave systems and flows through the third and first chambers, from which it flows to the resurgence, through two sumps and long, where it leaves the cave and enters the open air. The river is maintained at an artificially high level, and when the sluice is lowered falls a couple of metres to allow access to the fourth and fifth chambers, two small air spaces. Normally, however, these are only accessible by cave diving. Beyond the fifth chamber a roomy submerged route may be followed for a further , passing under three large rifts with air spaces, to surface in the ninth chamber - a roomy chamber over long and the same high. High level passages here lead to a former resurgence, now blocked, some above the current resurgence. An artificial tunnel leading off from the third chamber allows show cave visitors to cross the seventh and eight chambers on bridges, and skirt around the ninth chamber on a walkway, before exiting near the resurgence. A second excavated tunnel from Chamber 9 allows visitors to visit Chamber 20. From the ninth chamber, a dive of about passes almost immediately from the Dolomitic Conglomerate into the limestone, and descends steadily for to a depth of under a couple of high rifts with airbells, which are enclosed air spaces between the water and the roof, before reaching air space in the nineteenth chamber. The twentieth chamber is at the top of a large boulder slope - long, wide, and high. From here a roomy passage some long ascends towards a now-blocked fossil resurgence in the Ebbor Gorge. The total length of passages in this area is about . The continuation is found in the nineteenth chamber, where of passage descending to a depth of surfaces in the twenty second chamber - of dry passages at various levels with a static pool. The way on is within this pool at a depth of where of passage ascends to surface in Wookey 23 - of large passage, followed by four short sumps that arrive in Wookey 24. This is of what is described in the guide book as "magnificent" river passage, high and wide, which finishes at a cascade falling from a long lake. There are also more than of high level passages above the river. The way on continues underwater for some reaching a depth of before surfacing in Wookey 25 - called the Lake of Gloom because of its thick mud deposits. The sump at the end of this has been dived for to a maximum depth of before gravel chokes prevented further progress. The end is located about north-east of the entrance.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wookey Hole Caves」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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