(now a cow-house), which is sometimes styled the refectory, but
erroneously, since there is no fireplace. It is assigned to the early
part of the 15th cent. The barn (14th cent.) has Dec. doorways, rounded
buttresses on either side of the main entrance, and remains of finials.
_Wookey_, a village 2 m. W. from Wells, with a station on the G.W.R.
Cheddar branch. The church--chiefly Perp., with a blend of E.E.--is
interesting. The tower stair turret carries a lofty spirelet. Note
within (1) E.E. columns in N. aisle; (2) squints, especially the one on
N., combined with piscina. On the S. side of the sanctuary is a small
Perp. chapel decorated with modern frescoes, containing a plain
altar-tomb to Thos. Clarke and wife, 1689. In the churchyard is the
base of a cross. Near the church is Mellifont Abbey, built on the site
of the old rectory, and ornamented with fragments of the original
building. The Court, a farm-house in the fields, was once a manorial
residence of the Bishops of Bath and Wells. It has an E.E. doorway.
_Wookey Hole_ is a cavern (1-1/2 m. away) which gives its name (said to
be a corruption of _ogof_, Celtic for "cavern") to the village. It is
the oldest known cave in Great Britain, and was once inhabited (legend
asserts) by an ancient witch. It may be reached either from Wookey
Station or, just as easily, from Wells. Proceed through the hamlet to
the large paper-mill and inquire at the farm opposite for a guide (fee,
1s. 6d.; 1s. each for two or more). A pathway runs up the L. bank of
the stream which feeds the paper-mill, and ends abruptly in a
precipitous wall of rock. The stream, which is the source of the Axe,
will be seen issuing from a large natural archway at the base of the
cliff. An orifice in the rock enables the visitor to descend "Hell's
Ladder" to the "witch's kitchen"--a spacious chamber which, when
illuminated by the primitive device of igniting the scattered contents
of an oil-can, will be seen to contain some large stalagmites, the
witch and her dog on guard; and by pursuing a further series of
corridors, entry is gained to the witch's "drawing-room" and "parlour."
The three caverns are all of considerable extent, and have a strong
resemblance to Gough's caves at Cheddar, but are without the pendant
stalactites so profusely displayed at the latter. The gallery is 500
ft. long, and ends in a miniature lake. Geologically the series of
caverns is of much interest, on account of the varied assortment of
bones of extinct cave animals once contained in them. Cartloads of
these bones are said to have been thrown on the land as manure.
Recently another collection of bones has been discovered in a hitherto
unsuspected chamber near the roof of the main series. The visitor to
Wookey Hole should extend his peregrinations to _Ebbor Rocks_, which
are close by and are worth a visit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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