[Sharon]

Gough's Cave is located in Cheddar Gorge, a deep canyon on the southern edge of Somerset's Mendip Hills, in Cheddar, Somerset, England. The cave is 90 metres (295 ft) deep and is 2.135 kilometres (1.33 mile) long, and contains a variety of large chambers and rock formations. It contains the Cheddar Yeo, the largest underground river system in Britain.


Somerset's Mendip Hills


Cheddar Gorge open-top tour bus


Cheddar's visitor's centre and cave entrance




Gough's Cave


In 1903 the remains of a human male, since named Cheddar Man, were found a short distance inside Gough's Cave. He is Britain’s oldest complete human skeleton, having been dated to approximately 7150 BC.


'Cheddar Man'

There is a suggestion that the man died a violent death, perhaps related to cannibalism, although this has not been proven. Another theory is that he sustained brain damage from a wound to the forehead which made him an outcast in his day and upon his death at an early age, his body was placed in the cave so his spirit could not escape.

In 2007 a carving of a mammoth, estimated to be 13,000 years old, was also found in the cave.

The original skeleton is in London's Natural History Museum but is not currently on display.

Cheddar Man

Cheddar Gorge at the Info Britain website