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ABOUT CHEDDAR

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A brief history of Cheddar

Cheddar is unique.  Its distinguishing feature is the natural phenomenon of Britain's largest Gorge.  The Cheddar Yeo in Gough's Cave is Britain's biggest underground river, and the Gorge Cliffs are Britain's highest inland limestone cliffs.

The Gorge is a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of the calcareous grassland, Karst limestone buttresses and Horseshoe Bats.  Peregrine Falcons nest on the cliff face and Soay sheep keep the scrub in check.

Gough's Cave is an internationally famous archeological site because of its Late Upper Paleolithic finds (12-13,000 years old) and contained Britian's oldest complete skeleton (9,000 years old).  It lies within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is a candidate for Special Area for Conservation status.  

The Village of Cheddar has a long and ancient history, having been important Roman and Saxon Centres.  As early as 1130 AD, the beauty of the Gorge was recognised as one of the "Four wonders of England".  Historically, Cheddar's source of wealth was farming and cheese making for which it was famous as early as 1170 AD. 

In the 17^th and 18^th Centuries, the many watermills ground corn and made paper, and, from the Victorian period largescale production of clothing. 

Popular tourism began with the opening of Cheddar Valley Railway in 1869/1870, which provided workers from towns with the opportunity to enjoy a day's outing for the first-time as a Bank Holiday.  The railway was also popularly known as the Strawberry Line, because it passed close by the many strawberry-growing fields in the largely south-west facing slopes on the Cheddar side of the valley. "Strawberry Special" trains ferried the fruits by rail to all parts of the country, until the line was axed in 1965. Cheddar strawberries are still grown on these slopes today and in season are available to buy from stalls on the roadside between Cheddar, Draycott, Rodney Stoke and Westbury-sub-Mendip. The line itself is now a long distance footpath.

Cheddar, both the Village and Gorge today provides both shopping and leisure opportunites for all ages.

For a great deal more about the history, geography and modern day living in Cheddar, visit Cheddar's Facebook Community Page.

Local historians - please feel free to send over any additional words and pictures, relating to any aspect of Cheddar's history, that you would like to have published on this site (with a credit of course).