Cheddar Complex

Cheddar Complex
Site of Special Scientific Interest
	Location within Somerset
Location	Somerset
Grid reference	ST465538
Coordinates	51°16′51″N 2°46′06″W / 51.28082°N 2.76844°W
Interest	Biological and Geological
Area	441.3 hectares (4.413 km2; 1.704 sq mi)
Notification	1952
	Natural England website

The Cheddar Complex is a 441.3-hectare (1,090-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheddar around the Cheddar Gorge and north east to Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England, notified in 1952.

The very large area includes 4 SSSIs formerly known as: Cheddar Gorge SSSI; August Hole/Longwood Swallet SSSI; GB Cavern Charterhouse SSSI; and Charterhouse on-Mendip SSSI.

It is part owned by the National Trust, commercial landowners including the Marquess of Bath's Longleat Estate; and part managed by the Somerset Wildlife Trust.

Biological

The Cheddar Complex supports a wide range of semi-natural habitats which includes unimproved grassland, calcareous dry dwarf-shrub heath, semi-natural broadleaved woodland and dense and scattered scrub. Four nationally rare plants are present, including Little Robin Geranium purpureum, Cheddar Pink Dianthus gratianopolitanus and Cheddar Bedstraw Galium fleurotii, two of which are endemic to the Cheddar area, as well as fifteen nationally scarce species.^[1]

Geological

This site is important for karst, caves and vertebrate palaeontology and comprises four single interest localities. Cheddar Gorge is Britain’s largest gorge and probably the country’s best known limestone feature. It is a spectacular fluvial feature with a geomorphic history extending back 2 million years and encompassing the major environmental changes of the Pleistocene period. Cheddar Caves contain both active and fossil systems. The active cave system is one of the most heavily studied karst systems in Britain with reference to the conduit and diffuse flow characteristics of its hydrology. Charterhouse Caves include four major swallet caves that provide an indisputable record of Pleistocene landform development in the Mendips and surrounding area. Sun Hole Cave provides a varied fauna radiocarbon-dated to the end of the Late Devensian Cold Stage.^[1]

Several types of limestone including Clifton Down Limestone, Cheddar Limestone and Cheddar Oolite are visible in the Gorge and surrounding areas with pale grey Burrington Oolite outcropping around Black Rock Gate.^[2]

The Charterhouse area is of great importance as the finest remaining example of the unique Lead orefields of the Mendips. The surface features derived from lead working from pre-Roman times up to the nineteenth century are extremely well preserved.^[1]

Somerset Wildlife Trust Reserves

The area includes several nature reserves run by the Somerset Wildlife Trust. These include: Black Rock, Bubworth Acres, GB Gruffy, Long Wood, Mascall's Wood, Middledown, Ubley Warren and Velvet Bottom.^[3]

The Black Rock reserve covers 181 acres (73 ha) of woodland, limestone grassland, conifers and an abandoned quarry. Long Wood covers 47 acres (19 ha) of ancient woodland and includes Longwood Swallet. It was historically the property of the Carthusian monks of Witham Charterhouse. In Roman times Velvet Bottom was mined for lead and the remains of circular buddle pits which were used to wash lead ore and settling beds can still be seen. Heaps of black shiny slag are the remains from re-smelting of the lead. It now consists of rough grassland, with areas of woodland and shrubs.^[4] GB Gruffy includes 17 acres (6.9 ha) of neutral to acid species-rich grassland which overlies the GB Cave system.^[5] The 86 acres (35 ha) of Ubley Warren are another site deeply affected by the lead mining in the area which lasted until the 19th century.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "The Cheddar Complex" (PDF). English Nature. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
^ "Cheddar Gorge". British Geological Survey. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Nature Reserves Guide" (PDF). Somerset Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
^ "Cheddar Complex". Somerset Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
^ "GB Gruffy". Somerset Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 2 May 2011.

[sssicitation-1] "The Cheddar Complex" (PDF). English Nature. Retrieved 2 May 2011.

[2] "Cheddar Gorge". British Geological Survey. Retrieved 2 May 2011.

[swtreserves-3] "Nature Reserves Guide" (PDF). Somerset Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 2 May 2011.

[4] "Cheddar Complex". Somerset Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 2 May 2011.

[5] "GB Gruffy". Somerset Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 2 May 2011.

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v t e Mendip Hills
Settlements	Ashwick Axbridge Banwell Bishop Sutton Blagdon Bleadon Burrington Charterhouse Cheddar Chewton Mendip Churchill Compton Bishop Compton Martin Cross Draycott East Harptree Easton Hinton Blewett Hutton Leigh-on-Mendip Litton Oakhill Priddy Rodney Stoke Rowberrow Sandford Shepton Mallet Shipham Ubley Webbington Wells West Harptree Westbury-sub-Mendip Winscombe Wookey Hole
Rivers and lakes	River Axe Cheddar Yeo River Chew River Yeo Lox Yeo River Blagdon Lake Cheddar Reservoir Chew Valley Lake Litton Reservoirs
Hills	Axbridge Hill Black Down Bleadon Hill Burledge Hill Crook Peak Fry's Hill Pen Hill Purn Hill Shute Shelve Hill Wavering Down
Caves and gorges	Attborough Swallet Aveline's Hole Axbridge Ochre Mine Banwell Caves Banwell Ochre Caves Burrington Combe Charterhouse Cave Cheddar Gorge Compton Martin Ochre Mine Cox's Cave Eastwater Cavern Ebbor Gorge Fairy Cave Quarry GB Cave Goatchurch Cavern Gough's Cave Hunter's Hole Lamb Leer Longwood Swallet Manor Farm Swallet Picken's Hole Pierre's Pot Priddy Caves Read's Cavern Reservoir Hole Rhino Rift Rod's Pot Shatter Cave Shute Shelve Cavern Sidcot Swallet St Cuthbert's Swallet St. Dunstan's Well Catchment Stoke Lane Slocker Swildon's Hole Thrupe Lane Swallet Tyning's Barrow Swallet Upper Flood Swallet W/L Cave Wookey Hole Caves
Quarries	Batts Combe Callow Rock Cloford Cloud Colemans Cook's Wood Doulting Stone Dulcote Emborough Fairy Cave Gurney Slade Halecombe Hobbs Holwell Moon's Hill Torr Works Viaduct Whatley Windsor Hill
SSSIs	Asham Wood Axbridge Hill and Fry's Hill Banwell Caves Banwell Ochre Caves Barns Batch Spinney Blagdon Lake Bleadon Hill Brimble Pit and Cross Swallet Basins Burledge Hill Burrington Combe Chancellor's Farm Cheddar Complex Cheddar Reservoir Cheddar Wood Chew Valley Lake Cloford Quarry Compton Martin Ochre Mine Cook's Wood Quarry Crook Peak to Shute Shelve Hill Dolebury Warren Draycott Sleights Ebbor Gorge Emborough Quarries Harptree Combe Hobbs Quarry Holwell Quarries Kingdown and Middledown Lamb Leer Priddy Caves Priddy Pools Perch Rodney Stoke St. Dunstan's Well Catchment Sandpit Hole and Bishop's Lot Shiplate Slait Viaduct Quarry Windsor Hill Quarry Wurt Pit and Devil's Punchbowl
History	Priddy Circles Cheddar Man Drove Cottage Henge Dolebury Warren Charterhouse Roman Town Fosse Way King John's Hunting Lodge, Axbridge Priddy Mineries Somerset Coalfield Somerset Coal Canal Cheddar Valley line East Somerset Railway
Transport	Mendip Rail Mendip Way Monarch's Way National Cycle Route 24 A37 road A39 road A368 road A371 road
Councils	Bath and North East Somerset North Somerset Somerset
Surrounding areas	Chew Valley Somerset Levels North Somerset Levels

v t e Geological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset
Summary	Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)
SSSIs	Ben Knowle Blue Anchor to Lilstock Coast Brean Down Brimble Pit and Cross Swallet Basins Bruton Railway Cutting Cheddar Complex Cloford Quarry Cook's Wood Quarry Crook Peak to Shute Shelve Hill Doulting Railway Cutting Emborough Quarries Glenthorne Godminster Lane Quarry and Railway Cutting Greylake Ham Hill Hobbs Quarry Holwell Quarries Hurcott Farm Hurcott Lane Cutting Lamb Leer Langport Railway Cutting Laycock Railway Cutting Leighton Road Cutting Low Ham Maes Down Maesbury Railway Cutting Miller's Hill, Milborne Wick Moon's Hill Quarry Priddy Caves Priddy Pools Rodney Stoke SSSI Sandpit Hole and Bishop's Lot Seavington St Mary Shepton Montague Railway Cutting Snowdon Hill Quarry St. Dunstan's Well Catchment Thrupe Lane Swallet Vallis Vale Viaduct Quarry Windsor Hill Quarry Wookey Hole Wookey Station Wurt Pit and Devil's Punchbowl
Neighbouring areas	Avon Devon Dorset Wiltshire

v t e Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset
Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)
Aller and Beer Woods Aller Hill Asham Wood Axbridge Hill and Fry's Hill Babcary Meadows Barle Valley Barrington Hill Meadows Berrow Dunes Black Down and Sampford Commons Brean Down Bridgwater Bay Briggins Moor Catcott, Edington and Chilton Moors Chancellor's Farm Cheddar Complex Cheddar Reservoir Cheddar Wood Cleeve Hill Cogley Wood Crook Peak to Shute Shelve Hill Curry and Hay Moors Deadman Draycott Sleights Dunster Park and Heathlands East Polden Grasslands Ebbor Gorge Edford Woods and Meadows Exmoor Coastal Heaths Fivehead Woods and Meadow Freshmoor Friar's Oven Ge-mare Farm Fields Great Breach and Copley Woods Grove Farm Hardington Moor Hestercombe House Holme Moor & Clean Moor King's Sedgemoor Kingdown and Middledown Kingweston Meadows Lang's Farm Langford Heathfield Langmead and Weston Level Long Lye Long Lye Meadow Longleat Woods Millwater Moorlinch Nettlecombe Park North Brewham Meadows North Curry Meadow North Exmoor North Moor Old Iron Works, Mells Perch Porlock Ridge and Saltmarsh Postlebury Wood Priddy Pools Prior's Park & Adcombe Wood Quantock Hills Quants Ringdown River Barle Rodney Stoke Roebuck Meadows Ruttersleigh Severn Estuary Shapwick Heath Sharpham Moor Plot South Exmoor Southey and Gotleigh Moors Southlake Moor Sparkford Wood St. Dunstan's Well Catchment Stowell Meadow Street Heath Tealham and Tadham Moors Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands Twinhills Woods and Meadows Vallis Vale Walton and Ivythorn Hills West Moor West Sedgemoor Westhay Heath Westhay Moor Wet Moor Whitevine Meadows Windsor Hill Marsh Wookey Hole Woolhayes Farm
Neighbouring areas Avon Devon Dorset Wiltshire

Biological

Geological

Somerset Wildlife Trust Reserves

See also

References