Pages from William Beard’s journal (Somerset County Archives). Paper cut-out cave bear by Sean Harris

In 1824, in search of new sources of income for the village, the vicar of Banwell in Somerset commissioned two miners to reopen a cave system that had been first discovered in 1757. The new Bishop of Bath and Wells George Henry Law who owned the land was delighted at what they found; a mass of animal bones including bear, reindeer, bison and wolverine. This, in the light of discoveries made elsewhere, presented solid proof of the Deluge, the catastrophic flood unleashed by God in order to cleanse the Earth of humanity’s wickedness. So, compelling evidence of the need for the Church to exert moral authority for the well-being of all.

Over the ensuing three decades, William Beard (of Bone Cottage, Banwell) acted as curator of Banwell Bone Cave, leading guided tours for which he extracted a charge from visitors. His diary, held in the Somerset County Archives, demonstrates not only that (somewhat unsurprisingly) he got through a whole lot of candles – but also that he welcomed an extraordinary array of people to the caves including local laymen, illustrious cave researchers including William Buckland and William Pengelly and countless representatives of what might be thought of as ‘the chattering classes’ of the period.

This last group in particular demonstrates the powerful grip that this unfurling narrative – concerning the expansion of time itself, the making of the Earth and the origins of humanity – exerted over society. What was being debated over the decades of Beard’s dominion at Banwell was perhaps equivalent in terms of impact to what the discovery of life on another planet would be for us today. Or perhaps the reality of anthropogenic climate change, which has taken a similar timespan to become accepted in all rational quarters…

It was, it seems, a battleground over which the established Authority fought to retain control in the face of a whole new universal Truth. There was, of course, no television or internet at the time so on the whole neither news nor people travelled as quickly or easily as they do today. And the latter is testament to the powerful allure of what was being presented by Beard at Banwell; a great many people were prepared to travel considerable distances to gaze on the subterranean marvels of which he was custodian (albeit on behalf of the Bishop).