Caves of the Mendip Hills then rising up a fracture in the rock. Few caves on the Mendip Hills are more than deep or a few kilometres in length, (with some notable exceptions, such as Swildon's Hole which is over long), but a number are complex with several levels of passages which have been abandoned by the water, for example those around Cheddar. The catchment area of the Cheddar Yeo, which rises in Gough's Cave, measures . Dye marking shows that some of the water travels underground for up to , taking up to 14 days to reach Cheddar. When Banwell Bone Cave was discovered
Cheddar Gorge whether to fence off the gorge or introduce cattle grids to prevent the sheep from straying. There is already a small flock of feral Soay sheep in the gorge. The two main caves open to the public are on the southside of the Gorge, owned by Longleat Estate. The extensive Gough's Cave and the smaller Cox's Cave are both named after their respective discoverers. Both are known for their geology, and it has been suggested that the caves were used for maturing cheese in prehistoric times. Gough's cave, which was discovered in 1903, leads around into the rock-face, and contains