It is unusual for a cave on the Mendip Hills in that it is formed from DolomiticConglomerate and Marl rather than ordinary limestone. The main part of the cave was first entered in 1992,[2] although Red Quar Swallet had been dug in the 1930s and the entrance shaft is now a concrete pipe.[3]
It takes its name from the Attborough field in which the entrance is situated. Red Quar Swallet comes from the small scale quarrying of red Triassic conglomerate.[4]
The underground stream feeding water into the sump flows into Wigmore Swallet.[5]