| Rod's Pot | |
|---|---|
 Rod's Pot entrance | |
  | |
| Location | Burrington Combe,Somerset,UK |
| OS grid | ST 47215845 |
| Coordinates | 51°19′22″N2°45′32″W / 51.32269°N 2.75896°W /51.32269; -2.75896 |
| Depth | 45 metres (148 ft) |
| Length | 188 metres (617 ft) |
| Geology | Limestone |
| Entrances | 2 (Bath Swallet) |
| Access | Free |
| Registry | Mendip Cave Registry[1] |
Rod's Pot is alimestone cave aboveBurrington Combe in theMendip Hills, inSomerset,England.
The cave was first excavated in 1944 by theUniversity of Bristol Spelæological Society.[2] It is one of a line ofswallets marking the junction of the Limestone shales with theCarboniferous Limestones where water running off theOld Red Sandstone of Blackdown finds its way underground.[3] Further excavation has now linked Rod's Pot to nearbyBath Swallet.
The cave was originally known as Pearce's Pot after Rodney Pearce.[4]
Rod's Pot is formed mainly of vertical rift passages, probably in the original joints in the limestone which have been enlarged by water action. The north wall of the main chamber is a continuation of the main chamber in Read's Cave, a quarter mile to the west.
The entry chamber divides into two passages about 30 feet (9.1 m) high and 40 feet (12 m) long. They merge again at the top of a 50-foot (15 m) deep vertical pothole which is a dead end. From the top of the pothole a 30-foot (9.1 m) long passage leads to the roof of the main chamber. The main chamber is about 70 feet (21 m) long, 20 feet (6.1 m) high and slopes down some 40 feet (12 m). It contains astalagmite pillar formation and severalstalactite curtains.
A small hole leads to a smaller chamber about 2 feet (0.61 m) high in which is a stalactite curtain about 8 feet (2.4 m) long and which istranslucent and coloured with stripes of reddish-brown deposits. A further passageway leads to the terminal pothole.[3]
At the base of the Bear Pit, a 3 metre deep chamber reached through a small hole halfway through the cave, a pool containing a small community ofNiphargus fontanus been found.