Two caves form the Cheddar Caves: Gough's Cave, the largest one, discovered in 1890 by a sea captain named Richard Gough and the second one is Cox's Cave, discovered accidentally by local mill owner George Cox in 1837. One of his workers fell down through a whole in the cave's roof while he was collecting rocks. Gough's Cave stretches 0.4 kilometers (0.25 miles) underground and has enormous caverns, which is why it is referred to as 'the cathedral'.

When Gough's Cave was blasted for exploration, archaeologists found the oldest complete skeleton in Britain. It is supposed to be 9,000 years old and it is referred to as Cheddar Man.