The Lookout Tower

The original wooden tower was built by eccentric, Roland Pavey. In 1936 it was changed to a wrought iron gazebo viewpoint. There are 48 steps which lead to a circular viewing platform. Looking down you will see the steep valley side of the Gorge, which was formed over many years by torrents of water from the melting glaciers at the end of every ice age, cutting deeper and deeper through the limestone. During the periods from the Ice Age, known as interglacials, acidic rain water seeping through cracks in the limestone slowly formed a network of underground rivers. Water no longer flows, but it fills Gough's Cave underground aquifer, the largest underground aquifer or water containment system in Britain.