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Hollowed out by the River Axe a couple of miles outside Wells, Wookey Hole is an impressive cave complex of deep pools and intricate rock formations, but it's folklore rather than geology that takes precedence on the guided tours (daily: April-Oct 10am-5pm; Nov-March 10.30am-4.30pm; closed Dec 17-25; GBP7.30). Highlight of the tour is the alleged petrified remains of the Witch of Wookey, a "blear-eyed hag" who was said to have turned her evil eye on crops, young lovers and local farmers until the Abbot of Glastonbury intervened; he despatched a monk who drove the witch into the inner cave, sprinkled her with holy water and turned her into stone. Some substance was lent to the legend when an ancient skeleton - in fact Romano-British - was unearthed here in 1912, together with a dagger, sacrificial knife and a big rounded ball of pure stalagmite, the so-called witch's ball. Beside her were found two skeletons, the remains of goats tied to a stake. At the end of the hour-long tour, you can visit a functioning Victorian paper mill and rooms containing speleological exhibits and a range of gaudy, sometimes ghoulish Edwardian fairground amusements.
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