| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 | |
  Location within Somerset | |
| Location | Avon |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | ST478583 |
| Coordinates | 51°19′17″N2°45′02″W / 51.32140°N 2.75047°W /51.32140; -2.75047 |
| Interest | Biological and Geological |
| Area | 139.1 ha (344 acres) |
| Notification | 1952 (1952) |
| Natural England website | |
Burrington Combe is aCarboniferous Limestonegorge near the village ofBurrington, on the north side of theMendip HillsArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty, inNorth Somerset, England.
"Combe" or "coombe" is a word of Celtic origin found in several forms on all of the British Isles, denoting a steep-sided valley or hollow. Burrington Combe is agorge through the limestone hills although there is now no river running through it. Various cave entrances are exposed which have been occupied by humans for over 10,000 years, with ahillfort being built beside the combe in theIron Age. The geology has led to a diversity of plant life.
According to legendAugustus Montague Toplady was inspired to write the hymnRock of Ages while sheltering under a rock in the combe, although recent scholars have disputed this claim.
Water draining fromBlack Down has exposed rocks from theDevonian sandstones of the Portishead Formation which show through the limestone, Carboniferousmudstones of the Avon Group, limestones of the Black Rock Limestone Subgroup andoolitic limestones of the Burrington Oolite Subgroup; however the exact mechanism by which the gorge was formed is unknown.[1] The northern and lower end of the combe, which was once the bed of theCongresbury Yeo, cuts through overlyingClifton Down Limestone.Triassicdolomiticconglomerate can also locally be seen along the combe.[2]
Archaeological discoveries of earlycemeteries demonstrate human occupation of the combe and its caves from theBronze Age with some evidence of occupation during theUpper Palaeolithic period.[3] The combe contains the entrances to many of thecaves of the Mendip Hills, includingAveline's Hole,Sidcot Swallet andGoatchurch Cavern. A through trip has been dug fromRod's Pot toBath Swallet, which are both on the hills above the majority of Burrington caves. Further afield and equally accessible isRead's Cavern.
Goatchurch Cavern is 1,500 m (4,900 ft) long and has a surveyed depth of 61.5 m (202 ft). It was first recorded in 1736,[4] and explored by lead miners in the 19th century.[5]Around 1901, the owner unsuccessfully tried to turn it into ashow cave.[6] Notes of exploration in the 1920s record finds from thePleistocene period including bones ofmammoth, bear,hyena andcave lion.[7] During November 2003 inscribed marks were noticed in Goatchurch Cavern while cleaning awaygraffiti. Three finely cut marks were uncovered, resembling the letter W with apatina darker than in nearby graffiti dated 1704. These have been identified as ritual protection marks (also known as witch marks orapotropaic marks), possibly dating from the period 1550 to 1750.[8]
A swallet, also known as asinkhole, sink, shakehole, swallow hole or doline, is a natural depression or hole in the surface topography caused by the removal of soil or bedrock, often both, by water flowing beneath the water-table at considerable depth. Sidcot Swallet is named after theSidcot School Speleological Society who explored it in 1925.[9]
The earliest scientifically dated cemetery in Great Britain was found at Aveline's Hole. The human bone fragments it contained, from about 21 different individuals, are thought to be between roughly 10,200 and 10,400 years old.[10] A series of inscribed crosses found on the wall of the Aveline's Hole cave are believed to date from the earlyMesolithic period just after theIce age.[11]
Above the combe on its eastern side is the site of anIron Ageunivallate hill fort known asBurrington Camp.[12] It is around 100 metres (330 ft) by 80 metres (260 ft) and includesRomano-British elements.[3]
In recognition of its biological and geological interest, an area of 139.1 hectares (344 acres) within and around the combe wasnotified as aSite of Special Scientific Interest in 1952.[13]
The calcareous grasslands support a diverse flora which includes salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor), knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa andCentaurea nigra), rock-rose (Helianthemum nummularium) and wild thyme (Thymus praecox). On the higher, more acidic, slopes goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea), wood sage (Teucrium scorodonia) and common bent (Agrostis capillaris) can be found. There are also scrub plants including hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia), gorse (Ulex europaeus) and elder (Sambucus nigra). Several of the caves support bat populations.[13]
Geologically it is recognised as afluvialkarst feature which partly intersects a buried and filled gorge ofTriassic age.[13]
There is a legend thatAugustus Montague Toplady (1740–78), who was the curate atBlagdon,[14] was inspired to write the hymnRock of Ages while sheltering under a rock in the combe during athunderstorm in the late 18th century.[15] The rock was subsequently named after the hymn. It is now generally accepted that the attribution of this location to the writing ofRock of Ages only arose well after Toplady's death (the 1850s is suggested byPercy Dearmer inSongs of Praise Discussed, 1933) and has no proven factual basis.
The then Vicar atWestbury-on-Trym H. J. Wilkins published a 16-page booklet in 1938 titled"An Enquiry concerning Toplady and his Hymn "Rock of Ages" and its connection with Burrington Combe, Somerset" that found that in relation to the hymn "All available evidence goes to show that it was published in 1776, soon after it was written." Toplady had left the neighbourhood of Burrington Combe in 1764.[16]
In George Lawton's 1983 publicationWithin the Rock of Ages the author finds the claim thatRock of Ages was written at Burrington Combe to be only a legend, although he does state that "It is extremely doubtful whether at this distance of time, the legend that it was written in a cleft there can be proved or disproved."[17] In George Ella's 2000 studyA Debtor to Mercy Alone any links between the hymn and Burrington Combe are again said to be no more than legendary, with readers being referred to Lawton's 1983 study.[18]
C. H. Sisson wrote a poem entitledBurrington Combe, collected inExactions (Manchester: Carcanet 1980). The local area, including Black Down and Ellick Farm, features prominently in his poetry.
