Editing Wookey Hole Caves (section)

==History==
[[File:Cheeses stored at Wookey Hole Caves.JPG|thumb|Cheddar cheeses in Wookey Hole Caves]]

Witcombe suggests that the name ''Wookey'' is derived from the [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] ([[Welsh language|Welsh]]) for 'cave', ''ogo'' or ''ogof'', which gave the early names for this cave of ''"Ochie"'' or ''"Ochy"''. ''Hole'' is [[Anglo-Saxon]] for cave, which is itself of Latin/Norman derivation. Therefore, the name ''Wookey Hole Cave'' basically means ''cave cave cave''.{{sfn|Witcombe|2009|p=202}} [[Eilert Ekwall]] gives an alternative derivation of ''Wookey'' from the [[Old English]] ''wocig'', meaning a noose or snare for animals.{{sfn|Ekwall|1964|p=532}} By the 18th century the caves were commonly known as "Okey Hole".<ref>{{cite book|first=Benjamin|last=Martin|title=The Natural History of England: or, A Description of each Particular County, in Regard to the Curious Productions of Nature and Art|url=https://archive.org/details/naturalhistorye00martgoog|year=1759|publisher=W. Owen|page=[https://archive.org/details/naturalhistorye00martgoog/page/n81 63]}}</ref> It was known as such when it was first described in print in 1681 by the geologist [[John Beaumont (geologist)|John Beaumont]].<ref name="beaumont">{{cite book |title=The Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society of London 1685–1800 |date=1809 |publisher=C. and R. Baldwin |location=London |pages=487–488 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L0JKAAAAYAAJ&q=john+beaumont+mendip&pg=PA487|access-date=29 April 2019}}</ref>

Fossils of a range of animals have been found including [[Panthera spelaea|cave lion (''Panthera spelaea'')]], [[Cave hyena|cave hyena (''Crocuta crocuta spelaea'')]] and [[European badger|badger (''Meles meles'')]].{{sfn|Page|1906}} Cave hyenas are thought to have used Wookey Hole as a den.<ref>Tratman E.K., Donovan D. T., and Campbell J. B., [https://www.ubss.org.uk/resources/proceedings/vol12/UBSS_Proc_12_3_245-279.pdf The hyena den (Wookey Hole) Mendip Hills, Somerset], ''Proceedings of the University Bristol Spelaeological Society''. (1971) 12, no. 3, 245–279.</ref>  Wookey Hole was occupied by humans in the [[Iron Age]], possibly around 250–300 BC,{{sfn|Smith|1975|p=381}} while nearby Hyena Cave was occupied by [[Stone Age]] hunters. Badger Hole and Rhinoceros Hole are two dry caves on the slopes above the Wookey ravine near the Wookey Hole resurgence and contain in situ cave sediments laid down during the Ice Age.<ref name="sssicitation">{{Cite web|url=http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1001272.pdf |title=Wookey Hole |access-date=20 November 2008 |work=SSSI citation |publisher=English Nature }}</ref> Just outside the cave the foundations of a 1st-century hut have been identified. These had been built on during the [[Roman Britain|Roman era]] up to the end of the 4th century.<ref>{{cite web|title=Prehistoric and Roman occupation, Hole Ground, Wookey Hole|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/24440|work=Somerset Historic Environment Record|publisher=Somerset County Council|access-date=9 December 2013}}</ref>

In 1544 products of Roman [[lead]] working in the area were discovered. The lead mines across the Mendips have produced contamination of the water emerging from the caverns at Wookey Hole.{{sfn|Macklin|1985|pp=235–244}} The lead in the water is believed to have affected the quality of the paper produced.{{sfn|Gough|1967}}

The designation of the water catchment area for Wookey Hole, covering a large area of the Mendip Hills as far away as [[Priddy Pools]], as a [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]] (SSSI) during the 1970s and 1980s was controversial because of conflicts of interest between land owners, recreational cavers and cave scientists.{{sfn|Gunn|Gunn|1996|pp=121–127}} Initial proposals put forward by the Council of Southern Caving Clubs (part of the [[British Caving Association]]) were that SSSI designation, which would restrict what farmers and other landowners were allowed to do, would cover the entire catchment area. This was opposed as being too restrictive and difficult to enforce. It was argued that agricultural use of fields not directly in contact with cave entrances would have little detrimental effect on the caves themselves. There was also debate about which caves and cave features should be considered "important". The final settlement resulted in a smaller area being designated and many agricultural practices being removed from the list of proscribed "Potentially Damaging Operations".{{sfn|Gunn|Gunn|1996|pp=121–127}}

The entrance weir and sluice gate servicing the paper mill was built about 1852. The tunnel excavated from the third chamber to the ninth chamber and then out to daylight was dug in 1974–1975 by ex-coal miners from the [[Radstock]] area.<ref name="mrca" /> The show cave was further extended in 2015 by excavating a tunnel from the ninth chamber to the 20th chamber.<ref name="wmn" />

The constant temperature of {{convert|11|C}} in the caves is used by Ford Farm of [[Dorset]] to mature [[Cheddar cheese]] in the 'Cheese Tunnel'&nbsp;– an excavated side tunnel between the ninth chamber and the exit to the show cave.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cave-aged cheese|url=http://www.wookey.co.uk/cave-aged-cheese/|publisher=Wookey Hole Caves|access-date=3 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar wins awards for Dorset based Ford Farm|url=http://www.blackmorevale.co.uk/Wookey-Hole-Cave-Aged-Cheddar-wins-awards-Dorset/story-19745462-detail/story.html|work=Blackmore Vale Magazine|access-date=3 December 2013}}</ref>

===Cave archaeology===
Archaeological investigations were undertaken from 1859 to 1874 by [[William Boyd Dawkins]], who moved to [[Somerset]] to study classics with the vicar of [[Wookey]]. On hearing of the discovery of bones by local workmen, he led excavations in the area of the hyena den. His work led to the discovery of the first evidence for the use by Paleolithic humans in the caves of the Mendip Hills.{{sfn|Ramsay|1878|p=474}} [[Middle Paleolithic]] tools thought to have been created by [[Neanderthals]] been found in the cave. These are thought to date to [[Marine Isotope Stage]] 3 (around 57-29,000 years ago).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Holloran |first=Fiona |last2=Frémondeau |first2=Delphine |last3=Wilson |first3=Linda |last4=Martin |first4=Louise |last5=Stevens |first5=Rhiannon E. |date=2024-11-13 |title=Integrating Morphology and ZooMS-Identified Fauna Provides Insights Into Species Diversity and Neanderthal - Carnivores Interactions in Shared Landscapes: Evidence from Picken's Hole, Britain |url=https://paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.php/paleo/article/view/1194 |journal=PaleoAnthropology |language=en |pages=335–360 Pages |doi=10.48738/2024.ISS2.1194}}</ref> Most Neanderthal artifacts at Wookey Hole have been found in the Hyena Den, generally near the entrance, which shows evidence of on-site [[knapping]].<ref>White, M., & Pettitt, P. (2011). [https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/152474/7/9014.pdf The British Late Middle Palaeolithic: An Interpretative Synthesis of Neanderthal Occupation at the Northwestern Edge of the Pleistocene World]. ''Journal of World Prehistory'', 24(1), 25-97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-011-9043-9</ref> An incised red deer tooth found in association with these tools has a [[Radiocarbon dating#Calibration|radiocarbon age]] of around 40,400±1600 years (though this age is [[Radiocarbon calibration|uncalibrated]] and thus not true calendar years).<ref>{{cite web|last=Jacobi |first=Roger |title=The Late Pleistocene archaeology of Somerset |url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/HES_150_Years_Chapter_8.pdf |publisher=Somerset Heritage |access-date=3 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303171014/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/HES_150_Years_Chapter_8.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2014}}</ref>

[[Herbert E. Balch]] continued the work from 1904 to 1914,<ref>{{Cite web| title=A Potted History of H. E. Balch 1869–1958 | work=Bristol Exploration Club | url=http://www.bec-cave.org.uk/index.php/publications-mainmenu-32/belfry-bulletin-mainmenu-33/533-belfry-bulletin-no-493-october-1997?showall=&start=9 | access-date=29 December 2013}}</ref> when he led excavations of the entrance passage (1904–1915), Witch's Kitchen (the first chamber) and Hell's Ladder (1926–1927) and the Badger Hole (1938–1954), where Roman coins from the 3rd century were discovered along with [[Aurignacian]] flint implements.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/24354|title=Badger Hole cave, Wookey Hole|work=Somerset Historic Environment Record|publisher=Somerset County Council|access-date=21 September 2008}}</ref> Rhinoceros Hole was scheduled as an [[ancient monument]] in 1992.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1010292 |desc=Rhinoceros Hole, Wookey|access-date=5 April 2015}}</ref> The 1911 work found {{convert|4|to(-)|7|ft}} of stratification, mostly dating from the [[Iron Age]] and sealed into place by Romano-British artefacts. Finds included a silver coin of [[Marcia (gens)|Marcia]] (124&nbsp;BC), pottery, weapons and tools, bronze ornaments, and Roman coins from [[Vespasian]] to [[Valentinian II]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/24355|title=Wookey Hole Cave, Wookey Hole|work=Somerset Historic Environment Record|publisher=Somerset County Council|access-date=21 September 2008}}</ref> (1st to 4th centuries).

The work was continued, first by E. J. Mason from 1946 to 1949, and then by G. R. Morgan in 1972.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hyena Cave, Wookey Hole |work=Hominid bearing caves in the south west |url=http://capra.group.shef.ac.uk/1/swest.html#Hyaena%20Den |access-date=23 February 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204160157/http://capra.group.shef.ac.uk/1/swest.html |archive-date= 4 February 2012}}</ref> Later work led by Edgar Kingsley Tratman explored the human occupation of Rhinoceros Hole,{{sfn|White|Pettitt|2011|pp=25–97}} and showed that the fourth chamber of the great cave was a Romano-British cemetery.{{sfn|Hawkes|Rogers|Tratman|1979|pp=23–52}}{{sfn|Proctor|Collcutt|Currant|Hawkes|1996|pp=237–262}} During excavations in 1954–1957 at Hole Ground, just outside the entrance to the cave, the foundations of a 1st-century hut and Iron Age pottery were seen. These were covered by the foundations of Roman buildings, dating from the 1st to the late 4th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/24440|title=Prehistoric and Roman occupation, Hole Ground, Wookey Hole|work=Somerset Historic Environment Record|publisher=Somerset County Council|access-date=21 September 2008}}</ref>

===Exploration===
[[File:Wookey Hole caves - geograph.org.uk - 1250476.jpg|thumb|left|upright|An underground lake in the first chamber]]

The cave as far as the third chamber and side galleries has been known since at least the Iron Age period.{{sfn|Barrington|Stanton|1977|page=179}} Before the construction of a dam at the resurgence to feed water to the paper mill downstream, two more chambers (the Fourth and Fifth) were accessible. Further upstream the way lies underwater. Diving was first tried by the [[Cave Diving Group]] under the leadership of [[Graham Balcombe]] in 1935. With equipment on loan from [[Siebe Gorman]], he and [[Penelope Powell|Penelope ("Mossy") Powell]] penetrated {{convert|170|ft|m|sigfig=2|abbr=on|order=flip}} into the cave, reaching the seventh chamber, using [[standard diving dress]]. The events marked the first successful [[cave diving|cave dives]] in Britain.<ref>{{Cite web| title=UK Caves Database | url=http://www.ukcaves.co.uk/ | access-date=23 February 2007}}</ref><ref name="BuxtonCDG">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cavedivinggroup.org.uk/Essays/History/JBArticle.html|title=The Cave Diving Group|last=Buxton|first=John S.|publisher=CDG|access-date=28 September 2008|archive-date=31 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031073104/http://www.cavedivinggroup.org.uk/Essays/History/JBArticle.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Diving at Wookey resumed in early June 1946 when Balcombe used his homemade respirator and waterproof suit to explore the region between the resurgence and first chamber, as well as the underground course of the river between the third and first chambers. During these dives, the Romano-British remains were found and archaeological work dominated the early dives in the cave. The large ninth chamber was first entered on 24 April 1948 by Balcombe and Don Coase. Using this as an advance dive base, the 10th and then 11th chambers were discovered. The way on, however, was too deep for divers breathing pure oxygen from a closed-circuit [[Diving rebreather|rebreather]]. The [[List of UK caving fatalities|cave claimed its first life]] on 9 April 1949 when Gordon Marriott lost his life returning from the ninth chamber.<ref name="farr">{{cite web|last=Farr |first=Martyn |title=60 years in a cave |url=http://www.divernetxtra.com/technol/cave896.htm |publisher=Divernet |access-date=17 November 2013 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417030059/http://www.divernetxtra.com/technol/cave896.htm |archive-date=17 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=A Century of British Caving|url=http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/~arb/cpc/century.html|publisher=Craven Pothole Club|access-date=17 November 2013}}</ref> Another fatality occurred in 1981 when Keith Potter was drowned on a routine dive further upstream.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rose|first=Dave|title=Keith Potter|url=http://www.oucc.org.uk/procs/proc10/potter.htm|work=Proceedings 10 : "Pozu del Xitu"|publisher=Oxford University Cave Club|access-date=17 November 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Cave Rescues and Incidents for the Year ending 31 December. 1981|journal=Belfry Bulletin|date=June–July 1982|volume=410/411|url=http://www.bec-cave.org.uk/index.php/publications-mainmenu-32/belfry-bulletin-mainmenu-33/451-belfry-bulletin-no-410411-junejuly-1982?showall=&start=2}}</ref>

Further progress required apparatus that could overcome the depth limitation of breathing pure oxygen. In 1955, using an [[Aqua-lung|aqualung]] and swimming with fins, Bob Davies reached the bottom of the 11th chamber at {{convert|15|m|ft|abbr=on}} depth in clear water and discovered the 12th and 13th chambers. He got separated from his guideline and the other two divers in the 11th chamber, ending up spending three hours trapped in the 13th chamber, and had much trouble getting back to safety.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.cavedivinggroup.org.uk/Essays/History/1950.html| title=CDG History 1950–1959| publisher=Cave Diving Group| access-date=12 July 2012}}</ref> Opinion hardened against the use of the short-duration aqualung in favour of longer-duration closed-circuit equipment. Likewise, the traditional approach of walking along the bottom was preferred over swimming. Employing semi-closed circuit nitrogen-oxygen rebreathers, between 1957 and 1960 John Buxton and Oliver Wells went on to reach the elbow of the [[sump (cave)|sump]] upstream from the ninth chamber at a depth of {{convert|22|m|ft|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Farr|1991|page=75}} This was at a point known as "The Slot", the way on being too deep for the gas mixture they were breathing.
[[File:Cave diving equipment.JPG|thumb|Cave diving equipment in the museum at Wookey Hole Caves]]
A six-year hiatus ensued while [[Open circuit scuba|open circuit]] air diving became established, along with free-swimming and the use of neoprene [[wetsuit]]s. The new generation of cave diver was now more mobile above and under water and able to dive deeper. Using this approach, Dave Savage was able to reach air surface in the 18th chamber (chambers did not have to have air spaces to be so named; they were the limits of each exploration) in May 1966. A brief lull in exploration occurred while the mess of guidelines laid from the ninth chamber was sorted out before John Parker progressed first to the large, dry, inlet passage of the 20th chamber, and thence followed the River Axe upstream on a dive covering {{convert|152|m|ft}} at a maximum depth of {{convert|24|m|ft}} to the 22nd chamber where the way on appeared to be lost.{{sfn|Farr|1991|page=98}}{{sfn|Hanwell|Price|Witcombe|2010}}

Meanwhile, climbing operations in the ninth chamber found an abandoned outlet passage that terminated very close to the surface, as well as a dry overland route downstream through the higher levels of the eighth, seventh and sixth chambers as far as the fifth chamber. These discoveries were used to enable the show cave to be extended into the ninth chamber and the cave divers to start directly from here, bypassing the dive from the third chamber onwards.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cathedral Cave|url=http://www.wookey.co.uk/cathedral-cave/|publisher=Wookey Hole Caves|access-date=24 November 2013|archive-date=2 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202223404/http://www.wookey.co.uk/cathedral-cave/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The way on from the 22nd chamber was at last found by Colin Edmond and [[Martyn Farr]] in February 1976 and was explored until the line ran out. A few days later Geoff Yeadon and Oliver Statham somewhat controversially reached the 23rd chamber after laying just a further {{convert|9|m|ft}} of line. After a further three short dives they surfaced in the 24th chamber to be confronted by what Statham described as "a magnificent sight—the whole of the River Axe pouring down a passage {{convert|40|ft|m|disp=sqbr}} high by {{convert|5|ft|spell=in|disp=sqbr}} wide" terminating in a blue lake after {{convert|90|m|ft}}. This lake was dived by Farr a few days later for {{convert|90|m|ft}} at a maximum depth of {{convert|18|m|ft}} to emerge in the 25th chamber, a desolate, muddy place named "The Lake of Gloom".{{sfn|Farr|1991|pages=103–106}}

The 25th chamber represents the furthest upstream air surface in Wookey Hole Cave. From here the River Axe rises up from a deep sump where progressive depth records for cave diving in the British Isles have been set: firstly by Farr ({{convert|45|m|ft|abbr=on|disp=or}}) in 1977, then Rob Parker ({{convert|68|m|ft|abbr=on|disp=or}}) in 1985, and finally by [[John Volanthen]] and [[Richard Stanton (cave diver)|Rick Stanton]] ({{convert|76|m|ft|abbr=on|disp=or}}) in 2004.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/3703800.stm|title=Divers head for new depth record|publisher=BBC|access-date=10 November 2008 | date=30 September 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Rick Stanton |url=http://www.divernet.com/other_diving_topics/cave_diving/160916/rick_stanton.html |publisher=Diver Net |access-date=9 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214070320/http://www.divernet.com/other_diving_topics/cave_diving/160916/rick_stanton.html |archive-date=14 December 2013}}</ref> The pair returned again in 2005 to explore the sump to a depth of {{convert|90|m|ft|abbr=on}}, setting a new British Isles depth record for cave diving.{{sfn|Hanwell|Price|Witcombe|2010}} This record was broken in 2008 by Polish explorer [[Artur Kozłowski (speleologist)|Artur Kozłowski]], then later again by [[Michal Marek]], on dives in [[Pollatoomary]] in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]].<ref>{{cite news| last=Gallagher| first=Emer| newspaper=[[The Mayo News]]| title=Explorer plunges to new depths in Mayo| url=http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&id=4721| date=16 July 2008| access-date=21 September 2011}}</ref><ref name=onet-may2019>{{cite web| title=Polak zginął podczas nurkowania w Irlandii| date=16 May 2019| website=wbi.onet.pl| url=https://wbi.onet.pl/irlandia-nie-zyje-36-letni-michal-marek-z-galway/n28m88b| language=pl| access-date=18 May 2019}}</ref>
Taking advantage of the tunnel driven through to Chamber 20 by the show cave management in 2015, a team began seriously to investigate the leads in that area. One small passage was pushed to a sump that was dived through to Sting Corner in Chamber 24. In 2020 a dry connection was made to the same location.<ref name="descent277" />

During 1996–1997 water samples were collected at various points throughout the caves and showed different chemical compositions. Results showed that the "Unknown Junction", from where water flows to the static sump in the 22nd chamber by a different route from the majority of the River Axe, is upstream of the sump in the 25th.{{sfn|Chapman|Gee|Knights|Stell|1999|pp=107–113}}