Cox's Cave and The Crystal Quest
Attraction · Bristol
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Cox's Cave was found by mill owner George Cox in 1837 while quarrying limestone, and opened as a show cave the following year. Its seven small grottoes include the Home of the Rainbow, where mineral traces have coloured the stalagmites from black and green to pure white, and the route now continues into the Tolkien-inspired Crystal Quest. French speleologist Édouard-Alfred Martel once rated it his favourite of 600 caves.
From Wikipedia
Cox's Cave is in Cheddar Gorge on the Mendip Hills, in Somerset, England. It is open to the public as a show cave. The cave is named after mill owner George Cox who discovered it in 1837, while quarrying limestone for a new building. Cox immediately opened it as a show cave the following year and ran it as a private enterprise until the landowner, Thomas Thynne, 5th Marquess of Bath, took it over at the beginning of the 20th century. It was connected by a tunnel to the adjacent artificial Pavey's Cave in 1987. The cave consists of seven small grottoes, joined by low archways. One section of the cave is known as the Home of the Rainbow, where traces of minerals have been brought in from the surface, and have given the stalagmites a wide range of colour, from nearly black, green, and orange to pure white. The famous French speleologist Édouard-Alfred Martel visited this cave and declared that "out of 600 caves, Cox's was admired the most".