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
Wookey Hole Caves in 1989. A collection of fairground art of Wookey Hole was sold in 1997 at Christie's. The present owner is the former circus proprietor Gerry Cottle, who has introduced a circus school. The cave was used for the filming of episodes of the BBC TV series "Doctor Who": the serial "Revenge of the Cybermen" (1975) starring Tom Baker. This has since been referenced in the comedy of "The League of Gentlemen". The cave was also used in the filming of the British series "Blake's 7" (1978) and "Robin of Sherwood" (1983). The caves were used again for "Doctor Who" in