Rod's Pot

Infobox Cave
name = Rod's Pot
location = Burrington Combe
depth = 45 metres cite web | url= http://www.yucpc.org.uk/caves/details.asp?id=120 | work= York University Cave & Pothole Club | title= Rod's Pot Cave Info | accessdate= 2007-10-15]
length = 188 metres
coordinates = coord|51.322063|N|2.757583|W|region:GB_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title
geology = Limestone
number of entrances = 1 (also linked to Bath Swallet)
difficulty =
hazards =
access = Free

Rod's Pot is a limestone cave above Burrington Combe in the Mendip Hills, in Somerset, England.

The cave was first excavated in 1944 by the University of Bristol Speleological Society. [cite web | url= http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/arb/cpc/century.html | title= A Century of British Caving | first= Ric | last= Halliwell | work= Craven Pothole Club | accessdate= 2007-10-15] It is one of a line of swallets marking the junction of the Limestone shales with the the Carboniferous Limestones where water running off the Old Red Sandstone of Blackdown finds its way underground.Citation | first =Dr.R.A.J. | last =Pearce | editor-last = Balch| editor-first = H.E.| contribution = Rod's Pot| title = Mendip - Its Swallet Caves and Rock Shelters| year = 1948 (2nd edition)| pages = 93-96| place = Bristol | publisher = John Wright & Sons Ltd] Further excavation has now linked Rod's Pot to nearby Bath Swallet.

Main Features

Pod'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 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 convert|30|ft|m high and convert|40|ft|m long. They merge again at the top of a convert|50|ft|m|sing=on deep vertical pothole which is a dead end. From the top of the pothole a convert|30|ft|m|sing=on long passage leads to the roof of the main chamber. The main chamber is about convert|70|ft|m long, convert|20|ft|m high and slopes down some convert|40|ft|m. It contains a stalagmite pillar formation and several stalactite curtains.

A small hole leads to a smaller chamber about convert|2|ft|m high in which is a stalactite curtain about convert|8|ft|m long and which is translucent and coloured with stripes of reddish-brown deposits. A further passageway leads to the terminal pothole.

References

See also

* Caves of the Mendip Hills