Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset
=How to get there.=–Train from Paddington. Great Western Railway.
=Nearest Station.=–Cheddar.
=Distance from London.=–134 miles.
=Average Time.=–Varies between 4-1/4 to 5-1/4 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=–Single 21s. 4d. 13s. 4d. 10s. 8d.
Return 37s. 4d. 23s. 4d. ...
=Accommodation Obtainable.=–"Cliff Hotel,” etc.
The village of Cheddar, a name which reminds one of the cheese for which
the district is famous, is situated under the Mendip Hills, on the
Cheddar river, a tributary of the Axe. The place was once a market town
of considerable note, as the fine market-cross still testifies, but is
now chiefly celebrated as a starting-point for visiting the wonderful
natural beauties of the neighbourhood, the tremendous gorge through the
Cheddar cliffs and the stalactite caves being the most remarkable. The
road from the village rises gradually, passing the masses of rock known
as the “Lion,” the “Castle Rock,” the “Pulpit,” and others, named from
their wonderful resemblance to the work of human hands. The way winds
between steep limestone walls and towering pinnacles, rising here and
there to a height of between four and five hundred feet, and absolutely
shutting one in from even the merest glimpse of the magnificent scenery
in the valley below. There are paths here and there leading up to points
of vantage, but the way is difficult and dangerous owing to the manner
in which the passes are honeycombed with caverns and fissures.
In the midst of the gorge on the right hand of the way lie the entrances
to the marvellous stalactite caves, the first of which was discovered in
1837, and the second in comparatively recent times. It is needless to
say that the proprietor of each cave affirms his to be the better–as a
matter of fact, both are well worth seeing. One looks with something
like awe on the fantastic shapes of the stalagmites and stalactites in
these huge caverns, where the moisture, percolating through the earth,
has been dripping in the darkness for countless centuries, each
lime-laden drop lengthening imperceptibly the stalactite overhead and
the stalagmite beneath, while the consequent splashings, and, in some
parts, more sluggish dripping, make hundreds of quaint and suggestive
forms above and below. The caverns are well lit up to display their
beauties, and the admission is 2s. for a single visitor, or 1s. each for
members of a party.
[Illustration: Photochrom Co., Ltd.
CHEDDAR CLIFFS.
The road leading to the limestone caves.]
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Preface •
Ham House and Petersham •
Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle) •
Harrow •
Holwood House, Keston •
Chigwell, Essex •
Waltham Abbey and Cross •
Downe •
Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts •
Epping Forest •
Hampton Court •
Rye House, Broxbourne •
Hatfield House, Herts •
Runnymead, the Signing of Magna Charta •
The Oldest Brass in England •
St. Albans •
Stoke Poges Church, Bucks •
Windsor •
Jordans and William Penn •
Knole House and Sevenoaks •
Greenstead Church •
Chalfont St. Giles •
Westerham •
Guildford, Surrey •
Gad’s Hill •
Ightham Mote, Kent •
Penshurst •
St. Michael’s Mount and Marazion •
Rochester Cathedral •
Tunbridge Wells •
The Quintain Post At Offham and Malling Abbey •
Eversley •
Farnham, Surrey •
Hindhead, Surrey •
Shottermill •
Penn’s Chapel At Thakeham, Sussex •
Chawton the Home of Jane Austen •
Selborne •
Elstow •
Lewes, Sussex •
Bodiam Castle, Sussex •
Colchester, Essex •
Layer Marney •
Battle Abbey •
Cambridge •
Arundel Castle •
Olney, Bucks •
Wantage and the Country of Alfred the Great •
Canterbury and Its Cathedral •
Reculvers •
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Peterborough •
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New Forest, Hampshire •
Osborne House •
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Compton Wynyates •
Kenilworth Castle •
Belvoir Castle •
Bath •
Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers •
Warwick •
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Norfolk Broads •
Norwich Cathedral •
Lichfield •
Sherborne and Its Abbey Church •
Newark •
Wells and Its Cathedral •
Stratford-On-Avon •
Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk •
Lulworth Cove, Dorsetshire •
Corfe Castle •
Lincoln and Its Cathedral •
Somerset, the Birthplace of Tennyson •
Glastonbury Abbey •
Walsingham, Norfolk •
Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset •
Newstead Abbey •
The Wessex of Thomas Hardy’s Romances •
Tintern Abbey •
Chesterfield, Derbyshire •
Dukeries •
Haddon Hall, Derbyshire •
The Isle of Athelney, and Sedgemoor •
Raglan Castle •
Dovedale •
Wellington and the Wrekin, Shropshire •
Wroxeter and the Roman City of Uriconium, Salop •
Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire •
Ludlow and Its Castle •
Shrewsbury •
Buxton and the Peak District •
Tewkesbury •
Exeter and Its Cathedral •
Market Drayton, Salop •
Chester •
Exmoor •
Knutsford •
Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset •
Cleeve Abbey, Somerset •
Hawarden •
York Minster •
Coxwold, Yorkshire •
Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey •
Knaresborough, Dripping Well •
Fountains Abbey •
Ripon Cathedral •
Dartmoor •
Haworth •
Rievaulx Abbey •
Brixham, Devon •
Conway Castle •
The Doone Valley, Exmoor •
Llandovery, South Wales •
Dartmouth, Devon •
Richmond, Yorkshire •
Tintagel •
Whitby •
Carnarvon Castle •
Plymouth •
Durham and Its Cathedral •
Raby Castle, Durham •
Snowdon •
Harlech Castle •
Grasmere and Rydal Mount •
The Lake District •
St. Davids Cathedral •
Furness Abbey, Lancashire •
Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow •
The Isle of Man •
Brantwood •
Fowey •
Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall •
The Lake District •
Keswick •
Alnwick Castle •
Lanercost Priory, Cumberland •
Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.] •
St. Ives, Cornwall •
Bamborough Castle, Northumberland
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