Rodney Stoke

Rodney Stoke (grid reference ST492507) is a 69.6 hectare (172.0 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, just north of the village of Rodney Stoke in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1957. Part of the site is a national nature reserve and part a Nature Conservation Review Woodland site. This site supports a mosaic of ancient semi-natural broadleaved woodland, scrub and species-rich unimproved grassland. Rodney Stoke occupies steep south west facing slopes of the Mendip Hills. The underlying rock types belong to the dolomitic conglomerate facies of the Triassic, and to the Carboniferous Limestone series. The latter are restricted to the woodlands Big Stoke and Little Stoke, which along with Calve's Plot Wood are ancient woodland sites. Big Stoke and Little Stoke were almost entirely clear-felled during World War I. Two nationally rare plants occur at Rodney Stoke: purple gromwell (Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum) and the endemic whitebeam (Sorbus anglica). The site supports a diverse fauna. Badgers (Meles meles) are common and two or three setts are occupied each year. Noctule bats (Nyctalus noctula) and pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) roost in Big Stoke. Breeding birds include buzzard (Buteo buteo) and spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata). Small enclosures and tall hedges provide sheltered conditions that are ideal for many species of invertebrate. Butterflies are well represented with marbled white (Melanargia galathea), purple hairstreak (Quercusia quercus), brown argus (Aricia agestis) and grayling (Hipparchia semele).

Westbury Camp is a univallate Iron Age hill fort in the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England. The hill fort is situated in the parish of Rodney Stoke, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north-east of the village of Draycott and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-west of Westbury-sub-Mendip. The camp is largely situated in a hill slope. The north east defences have largely been destroyed by small quarries over the years. The narrow top of the hill bank suggests that it may have been surmounted by a dry stone wall. Along part of the east side of the camp there are traces of a berm between the bank and the outer ditch and at the western angle shallow quarry pits occur internally and externally set back from the 'rampart'.

Draycott Sleights (grid reference ST483518) is a 61.95 hectares (153.1 acres) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Draycott in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England, notified in 1987. The name is pronounced locally as "Slates", presumably a variation on the Saxon word Slade meaning amongst other things hillside, rather than in the same manner as the Yorkshire place of the same spelling. The Somerset Wildlife Trust reserve lies 3.5 km (2.2 mi) south east of Cheddar. It includes Draycott Sleights, 40.4 hectares (100 acres), and Draycott Housegrounds, 10.21 hectares (25.2 acres). Draycott Sleights is part of the Draycott Sleights Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Draycott Housegrounds is a County Wildlife Site. The entire reserve is within the Mendips Scarp Prime Biodiversity Area (PBA) and Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).Draycott Sleights supports extensive areas of traditionally managed species-rich unimproved calcareous grassland. Additional interest lies in a rich invertebrate fauna. The site is situated on steep south-west facing slopes of the Mendip Hills and ranges in altitude from 90 m (300 ft) to 270 m (890 ft). 165 species of flowering plant have been recorded. The varied topography together with the widespread scrub provide a number of locations with ideal conditions for invertebrates supporting a rich butterfly fauna typical of unimproved calcareous grassland. 32 species of resident breeding butterfly have been recorded. The occurrence of Adonis blue (Lysandra bellargus), silver-studded blue (Plebejus argus) and small blue (Cupido minimus) is of particular interest. Two nationally scarce species of fly, Symphoromyia immaculata and Bombylius canescens and one nationally scarce species of ant, Myrmica schencki have been recorded for this site.

Draycott is a village in Somerset, England, neighbouring the village of Cheddar on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is now the larger village in the civil parish of Rodney Stoke.

Draycott railway station was a station on the Bristol and Exeter Railway's Cheddar Valley line in Draycott, Somerset. The station was opened with the extension of the broad gauge line from Cheddar to Wells in April 1870, converted to standard gauge in the mid-1870s and then linked up to the East Somerset Railway to provide through services from Yatton to Witham in 1878. All the railways involved were absorbed into the Great Western Railway in the 1870s. The Yatton to Witham line closed to passengers in 1963, though goods traffic passed through to Cheddar until 1969. Draycott station, one of the smaller stations on the line, is now in residential use and still boasts many of the original Bristol and Exeter Railway features.

The Church of St Lawrence in Westbury-sub-Mendip, Somerset, England was built in the 12th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Lodge Hill railway station was a station on the Bristol and Exeter Railway's Cheddar Valley line in Somerset, England from 1870 until 1963. The station served the village of Westbury-sub-Mendip, but was not named Westbury because of the potential for confusion with Westbury, Wiltshire.

Westbury-sub-Mendip is a village in Somerset, England, on the southern slopes of the Mendip Hills 4 miles (6.4 km) from Wells and Cheddar. The parish boundary is formed by the River Axe.

The Perch (grid reference ST480532) is a 72.1 hectare (178.2 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest close to Cheddar Gorge in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. It received SSSI notification in 1990. This site is important because it supports populations of nationally rare and scarce plants, together with grassland and woodland habitats which are nationally restricted in distribution.The site is located on the south side of the Mendip Hills occupying a position on a steep-sided ridge which runs north to south. The underlying rocks are almost entirely carboniferous limestone with a small amount of Triassic dolomitic conglomerate.The nationally rare purple gromwell (Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum) and the nationally scarce Ivy Broomrape (Orobanche hederae) also occur. Three species of orchid occur in these grassland areas: the Green-winged Orchid (Orchis morio), the pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis) and the Autumn Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes spiralis). Two nationally rare plants, the Cheddar pink (Dianthus gratianopolitanus) and the Cheddar bedstraw (Galium fleurotii) are found on this site, as are two nationally scarce species: the rock stonecrop (Sedum forsterianum) and the spring cinquefoil (Potentilla tabernaemontani).This variety of habitats ensures that a wide range of fauna occurs on the site. In total 22 species of mammal have been recorded including a strong population of dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) and five species of bat, including the Greater Horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) and Lesser Horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) which use the site for feeding. One small roost of lesser horseshoe bats is known. Both species of horseshoe bat are nationally rare. Thirty species of birds are known to breed within this site and at least 23 species of butterfly breed here.

Kingdown and Middledown (grid reference ST480532) is a 5.7 hectare (14.1 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheddar in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1991. This site, which is in two parts, is situated on the plateau of the Mendip Hills and supports populations of two nationally rare plant species. Kingdown is at the end of a dry valley where Carboniferous Limestone outcrops as a small cliff, opposite which is a small disused limestone quarry. Covering some of the rock outcrops are clumps of Cheddar Pink (Dianthus gratianopolitanus), which is a nationally rare species. The nationally scarce species Soft-leaved Sedge (Carex montana) and Cheddar Bedstraw (Galium fleurotii) are also found here.

Brimble Pit and Cross Swallet Basins (grid reference ST512505) is a 154.3 hectare (381.3 acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Wookey Hole and Priddy in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1987. The site covers the two adjacent karstic basins draining into Brimble Pit and Cross Swallet. These are the two best defined of the belt of large shallow closed depressions which account for the total Topography along the southern edge of the Mendip Hills. The Brimble Pit depression has a large old lake sediment floor now pitted with sinkholes, while the Cross Swallet Basin feeds to a single active sinkhole around which are well preserved terraces of both rock and sediment. Both depressions have marginal cols feeding to overflow channels now permanently dry. The site also contains important Pleistocene/Quaternary mammal remains within sediments infilling former caverns exposed on the north east face of Westbury Quarry.The swallet was excavated by William Stanton between 1991 & 1992 for spelaeological purposes. However, archaeological material was discovered, leading Stanton to separate the deposits he was removing and examine them for archaeological material, which included 42 sherds of Grooved Ware pottery and a polished greenstone axehead.The area is included in the Cook's Fields Nature Reserve run by the Somerset Wildlife Trust.The Site of Special Scientific Interest is divided into units by Natural England. The Church Commissioners own the land on which part of unit 1 is situated

Cheddar Ales is an independent, artisanal brewery located in the village of Cheddar in Somerset, England, which produces a range of regular and seasonal beers. Its owner and head brewer, Jem Ham, previously worked 15 years at another local brewery before going out on his own.