1857.] CHEDDAR PLANTS. 239 



great quantity of Lastrea Filix-mas growing upon it^ and this 

 was the only spot upon which I observed this very common Fern. 



I now came upon the range of the Mendip Hills, and although 

 they are not to be called mountains, they are very beautiful and, 

 with their limestone cliffs, very romantic. Here the hill has 

 been cut, to ease the road, and the cutting exposes a good por- 

 tion of the rock. As I approached the end of the rock, the stra- 

 tification lay at an angle of about 45°. Towards the middle it is 

 perpendicular, and towards the further end 45° again, but turned 

 the contrary way, so that it appears to have a common centre in 

 the earth. 



T went through the village of Shipton, and arrived at Cheddar 

 without meeting with anything worth recording. My first care 

 was to procure accommodation for the two following nights, 

 which I did at the King^s Arms Inn, and found the accommoda- 

 tion good and the charge moderate. After refreshing myself I 

 strolled towards the clifis, and, by favour of the proprietor, I as- 

 cended through a steep copse towards the top. I went out upon 

 a piece of open land, where there was a most beautiful bird^s~eye 

 view of the upper part of the village. I was perhaps 200 feet 

 above the level of the valley or glen below. The steep declivity 

 of the opposite hill was cultivated in garden allotments, and 

 looked like a map ; whilst in the bottom the primitive white- 

 washed gable-ended houses (some of them nestling close under 

 the cliffs), the towering rocks, with the white smoke of a lime- 

 kiln against them, the rushing of the stream, and the turning of 

 the mills, all contributed to make the scene one of surpassing 

 loveliness. After I had admired this beautiful and picturesque 

 view for some time, I descended towards the village. I found a 

 path with steps, which brought me into the road opposite to the 

 inn or hotel. The gate was open ; but, from the manner in which 

 it was shut after I made my egress, I was made to understand 

 that I had been upon trespass, and I understood afterwards that 

 the land upon which I had been belonged to the hotel, and was 

 sacred to tourist customers. 



The first thing that attracted my notice was a shut-up cavern 

 in the perpendicular rock, with letters over the door, ' Cox^s Sta- 

 lactite Cavern.' I made some inquiries as to the means of view- 

 ing the interior, and was informed that it belonged to the landlord 

 of the hotel (who is also proprietor of the adjacent mill), and that 



