History
The first cave to be discovered was the Stalactite cave in 1757. This was opened in 1824 as a show cave to raise money for the local school. In an attempt to make access easier a tunnel was dug into the hill during which the bone cave was discovered in 1825.
The estate was owned by George Henry Law as Bishop of Bath and Wells, who thought the bones which were found were those of animals drowned in the flood at the time of Noah's Ark described in the Book of Genesis. The bishop had paths and folly buildings created for visitors and built a small cottage, which later became his retirement home.
Since the 1970s preservation and restoration work has been undertaken.
Read more about this topic: Banwell Caves
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