Cheddar Complex Cheddar Complex The Cheddar Complex is a 441.3 hectare (1090.5 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheddar around the Cheddar Gorge and north east to Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1952. The very large area includes 4 SSSIs formerly known as: Cheddar Gorge SSSI; August Hole/Longwood Swallet SSSI; GB Cavern Charterhouse SSSI; and Charterhouse on-Mendip SSSI. It is part owned by the National Trust, commercial landowners including the Marquess of Bath's Longleat Estate; and part managed by the Somerset Wildlife Trust. The Cheddar Complex supports a wide range of semi-natural habitats which includes unimproved grassland,
Alyn Valley Woods and Alyn Gorge Caves helleborine and wayfaring tree. There are also areas of calcareous grassland with plants such as bloody cranesbill and lesser meadow-rue. Much of the site lies on an escarpment of Carboniferous limestone and there are three cave systems: Ogof Hesp Alyn, Ogof Hen Ffynhonnau and Ogof Nadolig. Lead ore, zinc ore, limestone and calcite were formerly mined in the area. Alyn Valley Woods and Alyn Gorge Caves Alyn Valley Woods and Alyn Gorge Caves is a Site of Special Scientific Interest on the border of Flintshire and Denbighshire in north Wales. Most of the site is also designated as the Alyn