Burrington Combe

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Burrington Combe
Rock of Ages, Burrington Combe
Area of Search	Avon
Grid Reference	ST478583
Interest	Biological and Geological
Area	139.1 hectares
Notification	1952
Location Map	English Nature

Burrington Combe (grid reference ST478583) is a carboniferous limestone gorge near the village of Burrington, on the north side of the Mendip hills, in North Somerset, England. "Combe" or "coombe" is a word of Celtic origin found in several forms on all of the British Isles, denoting a steep-sided valley or hollow. The gorge contains the entrances to many caves, and Augustus Montague Toplady was inspired to write the poem Rock of Ages while sheltering under a rock in the combe during a thunderstorm in the late 18th century.

Archaeological discoveries of early cemeteries demonstrate human occupation of the combe and it's caves from the Bronze Age with some evidence of occupation during the Upper Palaeolithic period.^[1]

In recognition of its biological and geological interest, an area of 139.1 hectares within and around the combe was notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1952.

[edit] References

Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Avon

Ashton Court • Avon Gorge • Banwell Caves • Biddle Street, Yatton • Bishop's Hill Wood • Blagdon Lake • Bodkin Hazel Wood • Brockley Hall Stables • Brown's Folly • Burledge Sidelands and Meadows • Burrington Combe • Chew Valley Lake • Cleaves Wood • Cleeve Wood, Hanham • Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines • Compton Martin Ochre Mine • Congrove Field and The Tumps • Dolebury Warren • Ellenborough Park West • Folly Farm • Goblin Combe • Gordano Valley • Harptree Combe • Hawkesbury Meadow • Hinton Charterhouse Field • Horseshoe Bend, Shirehampton • Iford Manor • King's Wood and Urchin Wood • Long Dole Wood and Meadows • Lower Woods • Max Bog • Middle Hope • Midger • Monkswood Valley • Plaster's Green Meadows • Purn Hill • Puxton Moor • Severn Estuary • Shiplate Slait • St. Catherine's Valley • Steep Holm • Tickenham, Nailsea and Kenn Moors • Uphill Cliff • Upton Coombe • Walton Common • Weston Big Wood  • Yanal Bog Neighbouring areas: Gloucestershire • Somerset • Wiltshire

Geological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Avon

Aust Cliff • Avon Gorge • Banwell Caves  • Banwell Ochre Caves  • Barnhill Quarry  • Barns Batch Spinney  • Bickley Wood  • Bleadon Hill  • Bourne • Bowlditch Quarry  • Brinkmarsh Quarry  • Brown's Folly  • Buckover Road Cutting  • Burrington Combe  • Cattybrook Brickpit  • Clevedon Shore  • Compton Martin Ochre Mine  • Court Hill  • Cullimore's Quarry  • Damery Road Section  • Dundry Main Road South Quarry  • Gordano Valley  • Ham Green • Hampton Rocks Cutting  • Hartcliff Rocks Quarry • Hawkesbury Quarry  • Hinton Charterhouse Pit  • Hinton Hill, Wellow  • Holly Lane  • Huish Colliery Quarry  • Kenn Church, Kenn Pier & Yew Tree Farm • Kilmersdon Road Quarry  • Lower Woods  • Lulsgate Quarry  • Middle Hope  • Newton St. Loe  • Nightingale Valley  • North Road Quarry, Bath  • Portishead Pier to Black Nore • Quarry Steps, Durdham Down  • Severn Estuary • Slickstones Quarry, Cromhall  • Spring Cove Cliffs  • Stidham Farm  • Tytherington Quarry  • Weston-in-Gordano • Winterbourne Railway Cutting  • Writhlington Neighbouring areas: Gloucestershire • Somerset • Wiltshire