PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 487 



An Account of Ohey-hoJe, and several other Subterraneous Grottos and Caverns 

 in Mendjp-hillsj Somersetshire, &c. By Mr. John Beaumont, Jun. Philos. 

 Collect. N° 2, p. 1 . 



On the south side of Mendip-hills, within a mile of Wells, is a famous 

 grotto, known by the name of Okey-hole, much resorted to by travellers. The 

 entrance of it is in the declivity of those hills, which is there environed with 

 rocks, having near it a precipitous descent about 1 or \1 fathoms deep, at the 

 bottom of which there always issues from the rock a considerable current of 

 water. The naked rocks above the entrance show themselves for about 30 fa- 

 thoms in height, though the whole ascent of the hill above it is about a mile, 

 and is very steep. 



At first entering this vault, you go upon a level; but advancing farther into 

 it, you find the way rocky and uneven, sometimes ascending and sometimes 

 descending. The roof in the highest part is about 8 fathoms from the floor, 

 and in some places it is so low that a man must stoop to pass through. Its 

 width is also various, in some parts it is about 5 or 6 fathoms, in others not 

 above 1 or 2; it extends itself in length about 200 yards. 



At the farther part of this cavern there rises a good stream of water, large 

 enough to drive a mill, which passes all along one side of the cavern, and at 

 length slides down about 6 or 8 fathoms between the rocks, and then pressing 

 through the clefts of them, discharges itself into a valley. This river within 

 the cavern is well stored with eels, and has some trouts in it, which must of 

 necessity have been engendered there, and not come from without, there being 

 so great a fall near the entrance. In a dry summer I have seen a number of 

 frogs all along the cavern, to the farthest part of it, and other little animals in 

 some small cisterns of water there. Before arriving at the middle of this vault, 

 you find a bed of very fine sand, which is much used by artists to cast metals 

 in. On the roof, at certain places, hang multitudes of bats, as usual in all ca- 

 verns whose entrance is upon a level, or somewhat ascending or descending. 



The next cavern of note lies about 5 miles from this, on the southwest part 

 of Mendip-hills, near a place called Chedder, famous for cheese; from this 

 place you may pass up a narrow valley about a mile in length, being bounded 

 with precipitous rocks on the east and west, some of a very considerable height. 

 To enter into this cavern, before you reach half way this valley, you must as- 

 cend about 15 fathoms on those rocks which bound it to the east. This ca- 

 vern is not of so large extent as the former, neither has it any thing peculiar in 

 it. These two caverns have no communication with the mines. 



