Velvet Bottom is part of the wider Cheddar Complex Sites of Special Scientific Interest which is a network of nature reserves on the Mendip Hills. Each reserve has its own unique character and wildlife. All of the nature reserves are Sites of Special Scientific Interest, which provide protection to the plants and animals found there.

This nature reserve lies on the floor of a dry river valley and is long and narrow in shape. Most of the reserve can be seen from the main path. The 42-acre (17 ha) reserve is mostly rough grassland with small areas of woodland and scrub. The reserve has a long history of lead mining and there is still much evidence to be found of the site’s industrial heritage. Velvet Bottom has been managed by Somerset Wildlife Trust since 1975 and was purchased from the former owners, Bristol Water, in 1998.

Please clean up after your dog on sites on the Mendip Hills AONB to help protect the wildlife and stop grasslands becoming polluted.

Mike Cree

June 14, 2024

Lovely looped trail. the landscape is lumped and bumped in the most weirdest of ways. I realised that the mounds were actually man made from the mining days, and grass and nature had covered them all over. Sheep graze freely in the area.

HoofHike

April 27, 2025

Interesting area and very very low traffic

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Elevation 230 m

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Friday 10 October

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Location: Priddy, Mendip, Somerset, South West England, England, United Kingdom

Velvet Bottom Nature Reserve

1. Blagdon, Cheddar Gorge & Beacon Batch loop from Burrington Ham — Mendip Hills

2. Velvet Bottom & Beacon Batch loop from Black Gate — Mendip Hills

3. View of Cheddar Gorge – Velvet Bottom Nature Reserve loop from Charterhouse

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