This incredible waterfall turns everything it touches to stone. Here’s how:
#1 Mother Shipton’s Cave
Mother Shipton’s Cave is in Somerset in the United Kingdom. It has been the home of a peculiar waterfall with a very strange property for as long as local people can remember.
#2 The Dropping Well
The public became aware of Mother Shipton’s in the 1600s and the waterfall, then known as “The Dropping Well,” was a tourist feature from 1630 onwards.
#3 A Peculiar Observation
At first, it was the waterfall people came to see, but soon people started to notice the strange properties of the water itself. Everything that it came into contact with turned to stone!
#4 Stay Away!
This property of the waterfall was so incredible that many people tried to avoid coming into contact with the water because they were afraid that they too would turn to stone.
#5 The Stone Bicycle
#5 The Stone Bicycle
Of course, in the modern world, we know better. The petrification effect is due to the huge amounts of dissolved limestone in the local water thanks to its passage through the Mendip Hills.
#6 Art Projects
The bicycle and indeed these art-like projects of hanging bears are simply slowly coated in limescale as the water flows over them. It’s beautiful but not at all scary.
#7 The Myth
The local myth has it that Mother Shipton, a local demon, cursed the waters and that she predicted everything from the Spanish Armada to the advent of the cell phone.
#8 The Reality
The waterfall is simply a feature of the rich, mineral spring nearby, and which can be seen by curious visitors to the region. The myth is, perhaps, more interesting than reality, but reality is definitely more reassuring.
