Мендипские холмы: ландшафт, история и природа Сомерсета

Range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England

The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston super Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the Frome valley in the east, the hills overlook the Somerset Levels to the south and the Chew Valley and other tributaries of the Avon to the north. The highest point, at 325 metres above sea level, is Beacon Batch which is the summit area atop Black Down. The hills gave their name to the former local government district of Mendip, which administered most of the local area until April 2023. The higher, western part of the hills, covering has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which gives it a level of protection comparable to a national park. The hills are largely formed from Carboniferous Limestone, which is quarried at several sites. Ash–maple woodland, calcareous grassland and mesotrophic grassland which can be found across the Mendip Hills provide nationally important semi natural habitats. With their temperate climate these support a range of flora and fauna including birds, butterflies and small mammals. The dry stone walls that divide the pasture into fields are of botanical importance as they support important populations of the nationally scarce wall whitlowgrass (Draba muralis). The origin of the name "Mendip" is unclear, but it is known that there has been human habitation since Palaeolithic and Mesolithic times with a range of artefacts being recovered from caves. Neolithic, Iron Age, and Bronze Age features such as barrows are numerous with over 200 scheduled ancient monuments recorded. There is evidence of mining in the Mendips dating back to the late Bronze Age, which increased after the Roman invasion, particularly for lead and silver around Charterhouse. The difficult conditions in the area were noted by William Wilberforce in 1789, which inspired Hannah More to begin her work improving the conditions of the Mendip miners and agricultural workers. In the 18th and early 19th centuries of the common heathland on the hills were enclosed. In World War II a bombing decoy was constructed on top of Black Down at Beacon Batch. More recently, the mast of the Mendip transmitting station, micro hydroelectric turbines and a wind turbine have been installed. There are several quarries on the Mendip Hills. Some of the stone is still carried by Mendip Rail; the other railways in the area closed in the 1960s. Although the Roman Fosse Way crossed the hills, the main roads generally avoid the higher areas and run along the bottom of the scarp slope on the north and south of the hills. The western end of the hills is crossed by the M5 motorway and A38. Further east, and running almost north to south, are the A37 and A39. A wide range of outdoor sports and leisure activities take place in the Mendips, many based on the particular geology of the area. The hills are recognised as a national centre for caving and cave diving, as well as being popular with climbers, hillwalkers and natural historians. Wookey Hole Caves and some of the caves in Cheddar Gorge are open as show caves; however, many of the caves of the Mendip Hills are only accessible to members of caving clubs. Long distance footpaths include the Mendip Way and Limestone Link.

Several explanations for the name "Mendip" have been suggested. Its earliest known form is Mendepe in 1185. One suggestion is that it is derived from the medieval term Myne deepes. Others suggest it derives from Celtic monith, meaning mountain or hill, with an uncertain second element, perhaps Old English yppe in the sense of upland or plateau. A third explanation is that the name is cognate with Mened (Welsh mynydd), a Brythonic term for upland moorland. The suffix may be a contraction of the Old English hop, meaning a valley. Possible further meanings have been identified. The first is 'the stone pit' from the Celtic meyn and dyppa in reference to the collapsed cave systems of Cheddar. The second is "mighty and awesome" from the Old English moen and deop.

The rock strata known as the Carboniferous Limestone were laid down during the early Carboniferous Period, about 320–350 million years ago. Subsequently, much of northwestern Europe underwent continental collision throughout the late Paleozoic Era, culminating in the final phases of the Variscan orogeny near the end of the Carboniferous, 300 million years ago. This tectonic activity produced a complex suite of mountain and hill ranges across what is now southern Ireland, south western England, Brittany, and elsewhere in western Europe. As a result of the Variscan mountain building, the Mendip area now comprises at least four anticlinal fold structures, with an east–west trend, each with a core of older Devonian sandstone and Silurian volcanic rocks. The latter are quarried for use in road construction and as a concrete aggregate. and subsequent erosion has resulted in varying geological features including gorges, dry valleys, screes, swallets and others typical of karst landscapes. Beneath the southern escarpment and plateau are caves. There are also areas of limestone pavement and other karst features. Dissolution of the limestone produced many of the gorges including Cheddar Gorge and Burrington Combe. Springs are a common feature of the eastern part of the hills, a number of which have associated tufa deposits. The main body of the range is an extended plateau, 6–8 km (4–5 miles) wide and generally about 240 metres (800 ft) above sea level. In some places lead and zinc ores have mineralised the limestone and the dolomitic conglomerate. From the time of Roman Britain until 1908, the hills were an important source of lead. These areas were the centre of a major mining industry in the past and this is reflected in areas of contaminated rough ground known locally as "gruffy". The word "gruffy" is thought to derive from the grooves that were formed where the lead ore was extracted from veins near the surface. Other commodities obtained included calamine (zinc ore), manganese, iron, copper and baryte. The eastern area reaches into parts of the Somerset Coalfield. North and east of the Mendips the Carboniferous Limestone layers are found in the subsurface and are exposed in Avon Gorge, and are overlain by younger strata in Dundry Hill and the Cotswolds, where oolitic limestone of Jurassic age is found at the surface. West of the main Mendip plateau the Carboniferous Limestone continues in Bleadon Hill and Brean Down, and on the islands of Steep Holm and Flat Holm in the Bristol Channel. The hills gave their name to the rare mineral mendipite, an oxohalide of lead with chlorine with formula Pb3Cl2O2 which was first described in the area. A sample of mendipite was found at the head of Ebbor Gorge.

Along with the rest of South West England, the Mendip Hills have a temperate climate that is generally wetter and milder than the rest of England. The annual mean temperature is about 10 °C (50 °F) with seasonal and diurnal variations, but the modifying effect of the sea restricts the range to less than that in most other parts of the United Kingdom. January is the coldest month, with mean minimum temperatures between 1 °C (34 °F) and 2 °C (36 °F). July and August are the warmest, with mean daily maxima around 21 °C (70 °F). Cumulus cloud often forms inland, especially near hills, and reduces exposure to sunshine. The average annual sunshine is about 1,600 hours. Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. In summer, convection caused by solar surface heating sometimes forms shower clouds, and a large proportion of the annual precipitation falls from showers and thunderstorms at this time of year. Average rainfall is around 800–900 mm (31–35 in). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, with June to August having the lightest; the prevailing wind direction is from the south west. A combination of the rainfall and geology leads to an estimated average daily runoff from springs and boreholes of some 330,000 m3 (72 million imperial gallons). Bristol Waterworks Company (now Bristol Water) recognised the value of this resource and between 1846 and 1853 created a series of tunnels, pipes, and aqueducts called the "Line of Works", which still carry approximately 18,200 m3 (4 million imperial gallons) of water a day to Barrow Gurney Reservoirs for filtration and then on to Bristol and the surrounding areas. This collection and conveyance of water from the Chewton Mendip and East and West Harptree areas is accomplished by the effect of gravity on the runoff.

The area hosts three semi natural habitats of national importance: ash–maple woodland (Fraxinus spp. and Acer spp.) often with abundant small leaved lime (Tilia cordata), calcareous grassland and mesotrophic grassland. A range of important small mammals are found in the area, including the hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) and bats. The hazel dormouse is restricted largely to coppice woodland and scrub, while the bats, including the nationally rare lesser (Rhinolophus hipposideros) and greater horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), have a number of colonies in buildings, caves, and mines. A rare and endangered species, the greater horseshoe bat is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and is listed in Annex II of the 1992 European Community Habitats Directive. Amphibians such as the great crested newt (Triturus cristatus) have a wide distribution across the Mendips and are often found in flooded disused quarries. Several rare butterflies are indigenous to the area, including the nationally scarce pearl bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne), Duke of Burgundy (Hamearis lucina), and white letter hairstreak (Satyrium w album). The large blue butterfly (Maculinea arion) became extinct in the hills in the late 1970s. The dry stone walls that divide the pasture into fields are a well known feature of the Mendips. Constructed from local limestone in an "A frame" design, the walls are strong yet contain no mortar; many have been neglected and allowed to disintegrate, or have been replaced or contained by a mix of barbed wire and sheep fencing. These dry stone walls are of botanical importance as they support important populations of the nationally scarce wall whitlowgrass (Draba muralis). Amongst the plants which occur in the area are the Cheddar pink (Dianthus gratianopolitanus), purple gromwell (Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum), white rock rose (Helianthemum apenninum), Somerset hair grass (Koeleria vallesiana), and starved wood sedge (Carex depauperata). Large numbers of artefacts have been found near Neolithic, Iron Age, and Bronze Age features, such as the barrows and forts around Priddy and at Dolebury Warren. The caves of Cheddar Gorge have yielded many archaeological remains, as flood waters have washed artefacts and bones into the caves and preserved them in silt. The Cheddar Man, Britain's oldest complete skeleton, was found in Gough's Cave, part of the Cheddar Complex. Within the Mendip Hills AONB, good evidence exists for 286 definite examples of round barrows, including the Priddy Nine Barrows and Ashen Hill Barrow Cemeteries. The Historic England Archive holds over 1,200 entries for the area, and there are over 600 listed buildings, in addition to over 200 scheduled ancient monuments. These protected monuments range from prehistoric barrows and hillforts to the Black Down bombing decoy from the Second World War. There is evidence of mining dating back to the late Bronze Age, when there were technological changes in metal working indicating the use of lead. The Roman invasion, and possibly the preceding period of involvement in the internal affairs of the south of England, was inspired, in part, by the mineral wealth of the Mendips. William Wilberforce's visit to Cheddar in 1789, during which he saw the poor circumstances of the locals, inspired Hannah More to begin her work improving the conditions of the Mendip miners and agricultural workers. Under her influence, schools were built and children were formally instructed in reading and Christian doctrine. Between 1770 and 1813 some of land on the hills were enclosed, mainly with dry stone walls that today form a key part of the landscape. In 2006 funding was obtained to maintain and improve the walls, which had steadily deteriorated over the years.

In World War II, a bombing decoy was constructed on top of Black Down at Beacon Batch in an attempt to confuse bombers aiming to damage the city of Bristol, and piles of stones (known as cairns) were created to prevent enemy aircraft using the hilltop as a landing site. In the 1960s, the tallest mast in the region at above ground level, the Mendip UHF television transmitter, was installed on Pen Hill near Wells, one of the highest points of the Mendips. The transmitter's antenna rises to almost above sea level. Since 2003, arguments have raged over plans to erect a wind turbine near Chewton Mendip. The proposal was initially rejected by Mendip District Council, with the support of a range of local groups and organisations, on the grounds that the environmental impact on the edge of the AONB outweighed the amount of electricity which would be generated. In April 2006, however, a planning enquiry gave Ecotricity permission to build a 102 m (335 ft) turbine during the following year.

In the middle of the 1st century, ancient tracks across the hills were superseded by the Roman Fosse Way, from Bath to Ilchester, a branch of which served the Charterhouse lead mines. Stratton on the Fosse and Lydford on Fosse, two villages of the Mendips, reflect the arrival of this new road. Much of the high plateau, however, remained uncultivated and unenclosed until the 18th century, resulting in many roads remaining as narrow winding lanes between high banks and hedges or stone walls. Where the tracks had their origins as drovers roads, they typically become open roads with wide verges. The roads tend to follow the line of gorges and valleys, as at Cheddar Gorge. The more major of the current roads often started as turnpikes in the 16th century. These avoid the highest areas of the hills. To the north of the western part of the Mendips, the A368 separates the hills from the Chew Valley, while on the southern edge the A371 similarly runs along the bottom of the scarp slope between the hills and the Somerset Levels. The western end of the hills is crossed by the M5 motorway with access at junctions 21 and 22, along with the A38. Further east, and running almost north to south, are the A37, A39, A36 and the A361. During the late 19th and early 20th century, the Bristol and North Somerset Railway ran roughly parallel to the A37. Further south and west, the Cheddar Valley Line and Wrington Vale Light Railway, branches of the Bristol and Exeter Railway, served towns and villages from Cheddar to Wells. In the east, the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway ran south from Bath into Dorset, and also served Wells. These have all now closed, but Mendip Rail has freight lines to carry limestone from the quarries of the Mendip Hills. There is also the East Somerset Railway which is an operational heritage railway. The Somerset Coal Canal reached some of the pits of the Somerset Coalfield in the eastern end of the Mendips.

In recent centuries the Mendips, like the Cotswolds to the north, have been quarried for stone to build the cities of Bath and Bristol, as well as smaller towns in Somerset. The quarries are now major suppliers of road stone to southern England, among them producing around twelve million tonnes of limestone every year, employing over two thousand people, and turning over approximately £150 million per annum. There are two main rock types on the Mendips: the Devonian sandstones visible around Blackdown and Downhead and the Carboniferous Limestones, which dominate the hills and surround the older rock formations.

The Mendips are home to a wide range of outdoor sports and leisure activities, including hunting, caving, climbing, and abseiling. The rich variety of fauna and flora also makes it attractive for hillwalking and those interested in natural history.

Mendip Activity Centre is set in the Mendip Hills and is one of the largest outdoor activity centres in the South West. It is a key part of the local tourism community bringing significant revenue and visitor numbers each year, welcoming 10,000s of visitors. They have a thriving outdoor education program with schools, delivering school residentials. Families and individuals take part in activities including skiing and snowboarding, climbing and abseiling, kayaking and paddle boarding, caving, archery, air rifle, tobogganing and disc golf. Their pop up campsite, Mendip Basecamp, opened to the public in 2020 and in 2023 was named Gold Campsite at the Bristol, Bath and Somerset Tourism Awards.

Large areas of limestone on the Mendips have been worn away by water, making the hills a national centre for caving. Some of the caves have been known about since the establishment of the Mendip lead mining industry in Roman times. However, many have been discovered or explored only in the 20th century. Specialist equipment and knowledge is required to visit the vast majority of the caves, but Cheddar Gorge and Wookey Hole Caves are two show caves which are easily accessible to the public. The active Mendip Caving Group and other local caving organisations organise trips and continue to discover new caverns. The Hills conceal the largest underground river system in Britain; attempts to move from one cave to another through the underground rivers led to the development of cave diving in Britain. The first cave dive was attempted at Swildon's Hole in 1934, and the first successful dive was achieved the following year at Wookey Hole Caves, which has the deepest sump in Britain at 76 m (250 ft). The cave complexes at St. Dunstan's Well Catchment, Lamb Leer, and Priddy Caves have been identified as Sites of Special Scientific Interest. The deepest cave in the Mendip Hills is Charterhouse Cave with a vertical range of
Many caves in the Mendip area were excavated for archaeological and natural history studies by pioneer explorer Herbert E. Balch and were photographed by the early caver Harry Savory at the start of the 20th century using cameras, glass plates and flash powder.

Several sites on the Mendips are designated as open access land, and there are many footpaths and bridleways that are generally clearly marked. The Limestone Link is a 36 mile (58 km) long distance footpath from the Mendips to the Cotswolds, and the Mendip Way covers from Weston super Mare to Frome. The western section runs from the Bristol Channel at Uphill Cliff, affording views over the Somerset Levels, crosses the central Mendip plateau leading down to Cheddar Gorge, and then continues to Wells and Frome. The much longer Monarch's Way runs for , from Worcester to Shoreham by Sea in West Sussex. It closely follows the route taken by Charles II after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The route enters Somerset near Chewton Mendip and crosses the Mendip Hills heading for Wells. A shorter local path, the 45 mile (72 km) long Mendip Pub Trail, connects six pubs owned by Butcombe Brewery. The trail runs from Hinton Blewett through Priddy, Axbridge, Bleadon, Rowberrow, and Compton Martin.

Various forms of oval short track racing, including F1 and F2 stock cars, have taken place at Mendips Raceway since 1969. The track is located on Warrens Hill Road, on the rim of Batts Combe quarry between Shipham and Charterhouse.

Thomas Hardy described the Mendips as "a range of limestone rocks stretching from the shores of the Bristol Channel into the middle of Somersetshire", and several of his books refer to the Mendips or sites on the hills. According to legend, Augustus Montague Toplady was inspired to write the words of the hymn "Rock of Ages" while sheltering under a rock in Burrington Combe during a thunderstorm in 1763; there is a metal plaque marking the site.