Rhino Rift
Encyclopedia
Rhino Rift is a cave near Charterhouse
, in the carboniferous limestone of the Mendip Hills
, in Somerset
, England
. The cave is part of the Cheddar Complex
SSSI.
It is 253 m in length and reaches a depth of 147 m.
The cave was discovered in 1971 after a successful dig by members of the Wessex Cave Club. Previous digging by the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society had unearthed remains of extinct animals, hence the cave's name.
The cave is locked and access is controlled by the Charterhouse Caving Company.
Charterhouse, Somerset
Charterhouse, also known as Charterhouse-on-Mendip, is a hamlet in the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the English county of Somerset...
, in the carboniferous limestone of the Mendip Hills
Mendip Hills
The Mendip Hills is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running east to west between Weston-super-Mare and Frome, the hills overlook the Somerset Levels to the south and the Avon Valley to the north...
, in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The cave is part of the Cheddar Complex
Cheddar Complex
The Cheddar Complex is a 441.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheddar around the Cheddar Gorge and north east to Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1952....
SSSI.
It is 253 m in length and reaches a depth of 147 m.
The cave was discovered in 1971 after a successful dig by members of the Wessex Cave Club. Previous digging by the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society had unearthed remains of extinct animals, hence the cave's name.
The cave is locked and access is controlled by the Charterhouse Caving Company.
Further reading
- D. T. Donovan, R. D. Stride & A. M. Ap Simon, Rhino Rift Log: A record of the excavations from 9 Nov 1947 to 13 June 1948 (Excavation log including plans & sections, MS in 19cm 8vo notebook), library of the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society