18 Transactions of the 



Rugby School Natural History Society, and announced the follow- 

 ing elections : — 



Rev. E. Harris, M.A., Honorary Member. 

 H. E. Clerk, Junior School Member. 



J. Swinburne, ,, „ 



A joint paper was read by the President and Secretary (Messrs 

 Barrington-Ward and Stone) on 



A SCIENTIFIC VISIT TO CHEDDAR * 



On seeing Cheddar some months ago, for the first time, we 

 found so much that was interesting in its cliffs, its caverns, and 

 its antiquities, that we thought it would be worth while to give 

 a more careful examination to them, and to communicate to this 

 Society the result of our personal investigations. With this view 

 we have again visited the district, and have seen almost all the 

 points of interest once more, while, at the same time, we have 

 availed ourselves of every piece of collateral information that we 

 could procure, whether from the writings of others or replies to 

 the inquiries which we made of various persons acquainted with 

 Cheddar. And we must here acknowledge gratefully the courtesy 

 of the vicar, the Rev. Richard Beadon, through whose valuable 

 assistance we are enabled to lay before the Society many matters 

 of interest connected with the early history of the church and 

 village. In the following paper we propose, first, to say some- 

 thing of Cheddar village itself, and the general features of the 

 country round it ; then to describe the cliffs, with the remarkable 

 cavern, which forms the leading attraction of the place ; and we 

 shall next mention some points of interest in its history and anti- 

 quities ; conchiding with an account of the geological structure of 

 the district, and such botanical notices as it may seem desirable 

 to make. 



Cheddar is a small village lying beneath the south slope of the 

 Mendips, about eight miles from Wells and eighteen from Bristol. 

 It is not a pretty village as a whole, and by no means a well- 

 built one, but there are many charming glimpses of hill and wood- 

 land here and there between the scattered cottages, and the stately 

 tower of the church rises majestically from the dense masses of 

 foliage which surround it beneath. On the occasion of our second 

 visit the exquisitely lovely tints of the opening leaves and the 

 brilliance of the spring flowers lent a charm even to the humblest 

 abodes. In few parts even of rich Somerset does vegetation thrive 



* The Geological and Botanical parts of this paper have been mainly written 

 by the President, and the Antiquarian by J. Stone. 



