Eastwater Cavern

{{Short description|Limestone cave in Somerset, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox cave

| name = Eastwater Cavern

| photo = Geograph 1925594 Entrance to Eastwater Cavern.jpg

| photo_caption = Entrance to Eastwater Cavern

| location = Priddy, Somerset, UK

| height_variation = {{convert|152|m}}

| registry = Mendip Cave Registry{{cite mcra |id=133 |name= Eastwater Cavern |accessdate=2012-03-30}}

| length = {{convert|3510|m}}

| elevation = {{convert|238|m}}

| survey = [https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7593/16988470995_f877de19ef_o_d.jpg Upper Series Plan] and [https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8728/16781250037_9f39ddd2ee_o_d.jpg Lower Series Plan]

| discovery = 1902

| geology = Carboniferous Limestone

| difficulty = Grade 3-5

| hazards = flooding and loose boulders

| access = Call at Eastwater farm (ST 537 508), £1 goodwill fee. Changing facilities in barn.

| grid_ref_UK = ST 5388 5062

| map = Somerset

| map_width =

| coordinates = {{coord|51.25287|N|2.66237|W|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

}}

Eastwater Cavern is a cave near Priddy in the limestone of the Mendip Hills, in Somerset, England. It is also known as Eastwater Swallet.{{cite book|last=Witcombe|first=Richard|title=Who was Aveline anyway?: Mendip's Cave Names Explained|year=2009|publisher=Wessex Cave Club|location=Priddy|edition=2nd|page=62|isbn=978-0-9500433-6-4}} It was first excavated in April 1902 by a team led by Herbert E. Balch composed of paid labourers and volunteers from the Wells Natural History Society. Progress was initially slow, but by February 1903 Balch and Willcox had discovered substantial passage, following the streamway down to the bottom of the cave. Dolphin Pot was dug in 1940 by the Wessex Cave Club, with Primrose Pot following in 1950. West End series was the most recent significant discovery, in 1983.{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Peter |title=The History of Mendip Caving |year=1967 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot, Devon |asin=B0000CNIE0 }}

On 28 August 1910 severe flooding rendered the boulder ruckles unstable, and the bottom of the cave was not reached again for another three years. The cavern was the site of a fatal accident in 1960,{{cite journal

| author = Frank Frost

|date=July 1960

| title = Foreword

| journal = Wessex Cave Club Journal

| issue = 77, volume 6

| pages =1–2

}} when Alan Hartnell was hit by rock-fall. Several areas of the boulder chokes remain unstable.{{cite book |last=Barrington |first=Nicholas |author2=William Stanton|title=Mendip: The complete caves |year=1977 |publisher=Cheddar Valley Press |location=Cheddar |isbn=978-0-9501459-1-4}}

Dolphin ladder pitch also suffered a rock fall and was blocked by a sofa-sized boulder in 1959,{{cite journal

| author = Oliver (Lloyd)

|date=November 1959

| title = Dolphin Route Eastwater

| journal = Wessex Cave Club Journal

| issue = 76, volume 6

| pages =5–7

}} but the route was re-opened in 1966.{{cite journal

| author = Cheramodytes

|date=November 1966

| title = Mendip Notes: the dolphin route re-opened

| journal = Wessex Cave Club Journal

| issue = 76, volume 6

| pages =5–7

}}

The water resurges at Wookey Hole Caves {{convert|4|km|mi}} to the south, and {{convert|180|m|ft}} below the cave entrance.