Wookey Hole Caves then passes through major cave systems such as Swildon's Hole, Eastwater Cavern and St Cuthbert's Swallet, around Priddy, but 95% is water that has percolated directly into the limestone. The southern slopes of the Mendip Hills largely follow the flanks of an anticline, a fold in the rock that is convex upwards and has its oldest beds at its core. On the Mendips the crest of the anticline is truncated by erosion, forming a plateau. The rock strata here dip 10–15 degrees to the southwest. The outer slopes are mainly of Carboniferous Limestone, with Devonian age Old Red Sandstone exposed
Wookey Hole Caves the owner Captain G.W. Hodgkinson in 1927 following preparatory work by Balch. Three years later, John Cowper Powys wrote of the caves in the novel "A Glastonbury Romance". Hodgkinson took offence at the portrayal of his fictional equivalent, initiating a costly libel suit. The current paper mill building, whose water wheel is powered by a small canal from the river, dates from around 1860 and is a Grade II listed building. The commercial production of handmade paper ceased in February 2008 after owner Gerry Cottle concluded there was no longer a market for the product, and therefore sold most of