Read's Cavern

Read's Cavern
Read's Cavern entrance
Location	Burrington Combe, Somerset, UK
OS grid	ST 4682 5844
Coordinates	51°19′21″N 2°45′52″W
Depth	62 metres (203 ft)
Length	1,224 metres (4,016 ft)
Elevation	151 metres (495 ft)
Discovery	13 1919 UBSS
Geology	Limestone
Entrances	2
Hazards	loose boulders
Access	Free
BRAC grade	DC
Registry	Mendip Cave Registry[1]

Read's Cavern is a cave at Burrington Combe, Somerset, England, in which traces of Iron Age occupation have been found. It lies under Dolebury Hill. Its large main chamber has a boulder ruckle floor and is parallel to a cliff face. The cave was excavated by the University of Bristol Spelæological Society (UBSS) in the 1920s, when relics of Iron Age occupation were found.^[2]

The UBSS excavation followed the removal of 21 tonnes of limestone material below a cliff where a stream sinks.^[3] Among the finds were ironwork described as slave shackles.^[4]

After its discovery, the cave was first known as Keltic or Celtic Cavern until the Ordnance Survey decided that it should be known as Read's Cavern, after Mr. R. F. Read, the discoverer.^[5] It has also been called "Gough's Cave".^[6]

References

1. "Read's Cavern". Mendip Cave Registry & Archive. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
2. Barrington, Nicholas; Stanton, William (1977). Mendip: The complete caves. Cheddar: Cheddar Valley Press. ISBN 978-0-9501459-1-4.
3. L.S. Palmer (1920). "The Keltic Cavern (Read's Cavern)". UBSS Proceedings. 1 (1). UBSS: 9–20.
4. Palmer, Lionel Stanley (1959). Man's journey through time: a first step in physical and cultural anthropochronology, p. 77 (Figure 31: Iron slave shackles from Read's Cavern, Somerset)
5. L.S. Palmer (1921). "Second report on the Keltic Cavern (Read's Cavern)". 1 (2). UBSS: 87–91. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
6. Neff, Hector (1992). Chemical characterization of ceramic pastes in archaeology, p. 282: "Gough's Cave or Read's Cavern"