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Brownes' Hole

Stoke Lane Valley, Stoke St.Michael.

A roomy entrance passage yields a short but moderately entertaining round trip following a complex of small interconnecting slippery passages and tiny 'chambers' formed within an extensive and steeply inclined bedding plane. Also accessible from 'Tommy's Dig', this section of the cave is considered suitable for novices (A further shaft to the surface is now closed). Beyond lies the arduous Upstream Series, a sequence of intimidating ducks and muddy, water-filled drainpipes which can be followed east towards Hunting Lodge Slocker. The cave was discovered by the Browne family of Frome, who completely excavated the main passage as far as the bedding plane between 1947 and 1955, when the Upstream Series was opened. Finds included a human skeleton and a hyaena tooth. WCC extended the Upstream Series in 1980 to its present limit. Usually dry, water has been known to pour from the entrance in extreme flood conditions.

Alternate Names: None recorded.