The first part of the cave was certainly known early in the 19th century and probably long before. It used to be thought that the cave had been first opened to the public in 1899, after the discovery of St. Paul’s and the Diamond Chambers; in fact it was shown earlier than that, each new section being opened as soon as it was explored. This account has been based as far as possible on contemporary reports in local newspapers, pamphlets and travel guides.

Finds have been made in Gough’s (New) Cave for over a century. Many were accidental intrusions into the routine development of the Cave’s tourist potentials. Documentation is correspondingly piecemeal and has generated numerous ambiguities. Of international importance are discoveries made during excavations in the entrance area of the Cave between 1927 and 1931.

Cheddar Gorge is the classic example of a waterless limestone gorge with a tributary system of waterless limestone valleys. It is also one of Britain’s greatest natural scenic attractions. Opening into it are several caves at different levels, whose origins are linked to the development of the gorge. The largest known cave is Gough’s Cave, visited by a half a million tourists each year.

Descriptions and surveys of two caves in the Great Oolite Limestone east of Bath are presented. Henry’s Hole is a mass movement cave, a gull structure, which runs into part of an old freestone mine. The mined workings allow access to other gulls which are not open to the surface. Although the surface strata appear mainly intact, the beds at depth are foundered in a complex manner which suggests that the gulls seen are part of a high level secondary disturbance, with major gulling (unseen) at greater depth. Sally’s Rift is an entirely natural network of gulls, formed by the opening of two sets of joints. The cave has been known for many years but the only previously published survey is an incomplete Grade 1 sketch. Sally’s Rift shows a most unusual feature for a gull structure, a bedding cavity which is thought to be caused by block subsidence between vertical and inclined joints. Two phases of mass movement can clearly be demonstrated by the presence of a collapsed false-floor in the cave. To help distinguish between caves formed by mass movement and those formed by solution, the characteristic features of gull caves are described. A morphological classification of gulls is also offered, based on and extending a system devised by Hawkins and Privett (1981). The theory that gull formation is caused by gravitational sliding on cambered hillsides is discussed and generally endorsed.

Some Hawaiian cavernicoles appear to occupy areas of Kazumera Cave for less than two days at a time. It is thought that they appear from and disappear back into the system of cooling cracks, channels and vesicles present in the surrounding lava flows. This ‘mesocavernous habitat’ is thought to be extensive, to contain tree roots and detritus on which cavernicoles feed and to provide them with a humid microclimate which is subject to fewer perturbations than the larger and draughtier caves. For these reasons it is suggested that the ‘mesocavernous habitat’ is the principal habitat of Hawaiian cavernicoles, though some inhabit caves where they offer a suitable microclimate, or else make periodic sorties into caves in order to exploit cave-based resources.

In the summer of 1984 a ten-person expedition explored the Askion and Vermion mountains of northern Greece. Twenty-four small caves were found, of which only one was currently active. The longest cave was just 115 m in length. There are no plans for a follow-up expedition.