Ebbor Gorge SSSI
Location and Access Information
Grid Reference: ST 525485
Ebbor Gorge is cut through
Lower Carboniferous limestone.
Ebbor Gorge National Nature Reserve (NNR) is a largely wooded site occupying a prominent position on the southern escarpment of the Mendip Hills about 4km north-west of Wells. The site is accessible from the Wells-Priddy road. There is a car park on site.
Further information on the NNR can be obtained from the Ebbor Gorge NNR page.
View the site map on Nature on the Map
.
Geological Interest
Ebbor Gorge lies on the south-west facing slope of the Mendip Hills and consists of a steep sided ravine cut into the Carboniferous Limestone. A stream issuing to the west of the site runs down the tributary valley of Hope Wood before joining the main gorge. The Upper Carboniferous Millstone Grit and Lower Coal Measures form an impermeable floor to the valley. Exposures of the Carboniferous Limestone, deposited in a warm, shallow sea some 340 million years ago, can be seen at various points in the gorge. The weathering and erosion of the limestone over millions of years has produced the characteristic form of the gorge along with extensive cave systems, which are best seen at nearby Wookey Hole and Cheddar. There are a number of small caves present within Ebbor Gorge, deposits in which have yielded the fossil remains of mammals such as reindeer and arctic lemming which inhabited the area during the last glacial of the Ice Age some 12,000-50,000 years ago.
