Articles and Books

This section contains original articles of spelaeological interest

An overview of the archaeology of Mendip caves and karst by Vince Simmonds (revised 2016).

Swildon's - What's in a name? A Suggestion for the derivation of the name Swildon's by R. M. Taviner

The Great Wheel Pit Mystery by R. M. Taviner

The Sandford Gulf and other lost caves of Sandford Hill by R. M. Taviner

A summary of an assemblage of bones and a pot sherd found in Wookey Hole cave, Mendip Hills, Somerset by Vince Simmonds

Blagdon Bone Fissure by R. M. Taviner

A Field Survey of the Pits and Rakes of Brockley Combe and Broadfield by Alan Gray, 2006. A Google Earth KML file accompanying the document is also available. See also Axbridge Caving Group Journal June 2006 pages 4 to 19 here.

The Brownes’ Hole Cave, Stoke St Michael by Andrew Edwards et al, Dec 2022.

Uranium Series Dates From Mass Movement Caves On The Isle Of Portland, Dorset, UK by P.J. Murphy & N. Graham

Solutional Cave Passages Intersected By Mass Movement Rifts In The Isle Of Portland, Dorset by Roger G Cooper, Nigel Graham & Mike Read

This section contains historic articles of spelaeological interest

Engineering Underground - A Description of Lamb Leer Cableway by N. V. Baldwin. (Caves and Caving Vol. 1 No. 5 November 1938 Pages 180 to 183)

Axbridge Caving Group & Archaeological Society Excavations 1950 to 1960 by Jim Hunt

An account of the discovery of Ariel Cave in 1974 by it's discoverer Andrew MacTavish.

Dorset Evening Echo report covering the discovery of Ariel Cave, May 1975.

The Caves of the Isle of Portland by T. Ford and M. Hooper, Transactions of the CRG December 1964.

The MCRA presents 172 pages of sublime, rude, naughty and downright bizarre tales from some of the UK’s best-known cavers.

Is That So? (172 pages, 9 MB)

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Complete with photographs, illustrations and statistics from the M.R.O. and M.C.R. archives, this book covers 350 years of incidents from 1669 to 2019 and is being made available in pdf format (767 pages, 15 MB).

A History of Mendip Cave Rescues & Incidents - Rev. November 2019

The text has been updated, ready for a possible reprint in the future. No pictures or surveys are included, but surveys can be found on the Cave Surveys webpage (see Sidebar, top left). It is best to cross-reference with the original publication.

Portland Guide Book - Rev. July 2017

A collection of photographs telling the story of digging and discoveries in Carrion Slocker, Downhead, Mendip (22 pages, 32 MB).

Carrion Slocker Photobook 2021

Photographs and captions covering the exploration of Bradshaw's Cave, Asham Wood, Mendip, during 2015-16. Includes sketch surveys (32 pages, 48 MB).

Bradshaw's Cave Photobook 2024

This important publication by the Wessex Cave Club has long been out of print. The WCC have kindly agreed to make it available here as a download.

Mendip Karst Hydrology Research Project. Phases One and Two

Phase 1 - Drainage of the northern flank of Beacon Hill.

Phase 2 - Tracing feeders to Cheddar and Wookey risings.

Copies of the final part, Phase 3, can be purchased from the WCC.

Phase 3 - Water tracing in the Burrington area.