Wookey Hole Caves to 1874 by William Boyd Dawkins, who moved to Somerset to study classics with the vicar of Wookey. On hearing of the discovery of bones by local workmen he led excavations in the area of the hyena den. His work led to the discovery of the first evidence for the use by Palaeolithic man in the Caves of the Mendip Hills. Middle Paleolithic tools have been found in association with butchered bones with a radiocarbon age of around 41,000 years. Herbert E. Balch continued the work from 1904 to 1914, when he led excavations of the entrance passage (1904–1915), Witch's
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