Ebbor Gorge is alimestonegorge inSomerset, England, designated and notified in 1952 as a 63.5-hectare (157-acre)biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in theMendip Hills. It was donated to theNational Trust in 1967 and is now managed byNatural England as anational nature reserve.

Ebbor Gorge

Site of Special Scientific Interest
Location within Somerset
Location	Somerset
Grid reference	ST525485
Coordinates	51°14′02″N2°40′55″W / 51.234°N 2.682°W /51.234; -2.682
Interest	Biological
Area	156.8 acres (0.635 km2; 0.2450 sq mi)
Notification	1952
Natural England website

The gorge was cut mostly into theClifton Down Limestone, part of the LowerCarboniferousPembroke Group, by water. The site was occupied by humans in theNeolithic Era and their tools and flint arrow heads have been discovered, along with pottery from theBronze Age. There are also fossils of small mammals from the LateDevensian. The nature reserve provides a habitat for a variety of flora and fauna, including flowers, butterflies and bats.

Ebbor Gorge lies on the southwest-facing slope of the Mendip Hills and consists of a steep-sided ravine cut into 350-million-year-oldCarboniferous Limestone of theDinantian. The gorge was cut intoClifton Down Limestone by meltwater in thePleistoceneEpoch.^[1][2] The lowest part of the gorge is formed in the Namurian Quartzitic Sandstone Group and the South Wales Lower Coal Measures, over which younger limestones have been thrust to the north-east, as demonstrated by the BGS maps (1:50,000 sheet 280, Wells). An example of the rare mineralmendipite was found at the head of the gorge.^[3]

A stream issuing to the west of the site runs down the tributary valley of Hope Wood before joining the main gorge. The original watercourse which may have cut the gorge into the limestone became diverted underground and now emerges atWookey Hole Caves to form theRiver Axe.^[4]

Various caves within the gorge were inhabited byneolithic people from which flint tools are held in theWells and Mendip Museum.^[5][6][7] One particularly fine flint flake can be seen in the museum atKing John's Hunting Lodge inAxbridge.^[8] Human and animal bones from theNeolithic were recovered from Outlook Cave in 1907.^[9] Bones from thePalaeolithic have been found at Savory's Hole.^[10]

Several caves occur within the Gorge, of which Bridged Pot and Gully Cave provide some of the best LateDevensian small-mammal assemblages known from Britain. Most of the deposits remain in situ and includesteppe pika,Arctic lemming,Norway lemming, variousvoles,red deer andreindeer.^{[11][12][13][14]}Bronze Age finds include pottery from theBeaker culture,^[15] a stone axe and flint knife.^[16]

A 40-hectare (99-acre) area of the gorge is owned by theNational Trust, and managed byNatural England as anational nature reserve.^[17][18] The land was donated to the National Trust by Mrs G.W. Hodgkinson, in 1967, in memory ofWinston Churchill.^[19] The site was purchased in 1931 byWookey Hole Caves Ltd.^[20]

The site is close toWookey Hole village andcaves and offers views across theSomerset Levels toGlastonbury Tor and beyond. There are three marked trails of varying lengths around the steeply wooded gorge, the longest being 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long,^[7] the shortest of which is suitable for wheelchair users.^[21]

Because of the ecology of the area 63.5 hectares (157 acres) was designated as abiological Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1952.^[11] The groundflora is indicative of the calcareous nature of the site, withdog's mercury (Mercurialis perennis) being locally dominant. Many of the associated species are characteristic ofancient woodland.Wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa) andcommon bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) are both locally abundant. The valley of the main gorge is humid and provides ideal conditions forfungi andferns. It contains a substantial assemblage ofbryophytes with over 120 species recorded including the nationally rareBryum canariense and the very rareAmblystegiella confervoides.^[11]

The varied age and canopy structure of woodland encourages a high diversity ofbutterflies, nationally scarce species including thewhite-letter hairstreak (Strymonidia walbum) andhigh brown fritillary (Fabriciana adippe), while species such as thechalkhill blue (Lysandra coridon) andbrown argus (Aricia agestis) occur on the limestone grassland.^[22]Greater horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) andlesser horseshoes (Rhinolophus hipposideros) regularly use sites in the Gorge ashibernacular roosts.^[11] The site also supportsbirds of prey and a few red deer.^[23]

• Natural England website for theEbbor Gorge NNR