Landscape

The Children of Blagdon Primary school with some help from Ruth Coleman (Starfish Producer) and Biggerhouse Film, visited Black Down and researched the story of Starfish to produce a short film. A mixture of live drama and animated sequences tell the fascinating story behind the Decoy town on Black Down during World War II.

Burrington Camp is a multiphase hill-slope enclosure of late prehistoric date.

Discover how the earliest scientifically dated cemetery in Britain, 10,200 and 10,400 years old, was found at Aveline's Hole

The remains of mine workings can be seen across much of central and western Mendip, especially around Shipham, Charterhouse, Priddy and Stockhill Forest. Iron, lead, zinc and ochre have all been mined at various times and places across Mendip. The old mine workings are often characterised by areas of 'gruffy' ground, a local name for uneven hummocky landscape created during mining operations. On eastern Mendip, coal mining was more important.

Discover the long history of mining on the Mendip Hills stretching back over 2000 years to Iron Age times.

Information on the processes of continental drift and mountain building that shaped the Mendips.

Illustrated descriptions of the ancient environments in which the rocks of the Mendips were formed.

Information on the characteristic flora and fauna of the Mendip Hills which has led to many sites being designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Discover how many plant and animal species of the Mendip Hills are typical of certain soils that in turn are determined by the underlying rocks.