Information about Fernhill Cave

What is this all about? The large spoil-heap and the gridded concrete-pipe shaft that have appeared in Fairy Cave Quarry recently are part of an attempt to reopen Fernhill Cave. The entrance to the cave was buried under a mound of quarry waste sometime in the autumn of 1964. Our intention is to re-excavate the entrance to the cave, which lies about 3 to 4 metres (in the region of 12 feet) below the bottom of the concrete pipes. While this work is in progress, the shaft has been covered by a temporary security grill. Once the cave has been opened, an approved type of gate will be fitted and this will allow the passage of all indigenous species of bat. Some general background information Fernhill Cave is just a small part of an extensive series of cave passages which converge on the rising at St Dunstan's Well. Before quarrying started, a network of cave passages existed underground. Fairy Cave, which gave its name to the area, has been open since ancient times and was well known, but the rest of the network was hidden and unknown. As the quarry expanded, it intersected some of the high level, 'fossil' parts of this network. Now that quarrying has stopped, substantial fragments of this system remain, for the quarry revealed more passage than it destroyed. The fragments now appear as separate entities, with their own names; Balch Cave, Hillier's Cave, Shatter Cave and so on. Apart from the remarkable density of cave passage within a relatively small area, the caves of the quarry share another outstanding characteristic; the quantity AND quality of their stalagmite deposits, frequently glistening pure white, quite unparalleled in other caves in the region. Fernhill Cave in the 1960s On Whitsun weekend, 1960, Jack Waddon of the Bristol Exploration Club noted a 5 inch wide slot in the north-west corner of the quarry. A strong cold draught blew out from this slot. He returned on 17^th June 1960, with Phil Davies of the Wessex Cave Club. They enlarged the entrance and Jack made the first descent. In his words:- Towards the floor of the quarry, the bedding plane widened, until there was a gap some five inches above the stalagmite flow ... ... Some time was spent removing enough rock to make a tight, but passable entrance, and a considerable amount of loose and shattered rock had to be made safe. I then squeezed into the hole and chimneyed down the bedding plane, which was sufficiently steep to present the appearance of a rift, until I reached a boulder floor 43 feet below. A quick look round confirmed that this was a brand new cave and I made the return climb to the surface. E.J. Waddon. 1960, Belfry Bulletin No.154 pp6-7.
Jack Waddon looking into the entrance of Fernhill Cave, 1960.	The Fernhill bedding plane in 1964. The entrance, on the right of the photograph is already buried under the quarry tip.
Fernhill Cave now By careful study of the old photographs of the site, Alan Gray identified three parts of the rock face still visible today. From this he was able to predict with some degree of confidence the likely position of the top of the entrance bedding plane. This was some 11 metres below the quarry tip. We thought that it would be possible to locate the entrance bedding plane and install a concrete-pipe shaft within one week. And so the project started.
26^th January 2008: Before the start of work. The cave lies under the mound on the right of the photograph.	7^th April 2008: Starting to excavate the upper waste-tip.
10^th April 2008: Installing concrete pipes in the entrance bedding-plane.	10^th April 2008: Backfilling the excavation.
Who is doing this? This work is being carried out by a group of cavers drawn from various local caving clubs. For reasons too complicated to go into here, the group is known as 'ATLAS'. Further information Geology The British Geological Survey have just published two excellent guidebooks and maps, 'A walker's guide to the geology and landscape of Eastern Mendip' (ISBN 978 085272 575 7) and 'A walker's guide to the geology and landscape of Western Mendip' (ISBN 978 085272 576 4). The Eastern Mendip volume has information about Fairy Cave Quarry and its caves. There is also an accompanying website, do look at it, it's very good:- http://www.mendiphills.com Mendip generally The Mendip Hills AONB: www.mendiphills.org.uk The Mendip Society: www.mendipsociety.org.uk The Somerset Wildlife Trust: www.somersetwildlife.org Caving British Caving Association: www.british-caving.org.uk Try Caving - (an introduction): www.trycaving.co.uk Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following organizations for their help: Hobbs Holdings Ltd Natural England Fairy Cave Quarry Management Committee Council of Southern Caving Clubs Finally, Questions and comments may be directed to:-