It has a temperate climate and provides a unique geological and biological environment that has been recognised by the designation of several Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

The crop was formerly transported on the Cheddar Valley rail line, which closed in the late 1960s and is now a cycle path.

The village is now a major tourist destination with several cultural and community facilities, including the Cheddar Show Caves Museum.

[5] The village supports a variety of community groups including religious, sporting and cultural organisations.

There is also evidence of Bronze Age barrows at the mound in the Longwood valley, which if man-made it is likely to be a field system.

[12][14] Cheddar was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Ceder,[15] meaning "Shear Water", from the Old English scear and Old Welsh dŵr.

Historically, Cheddar's source of wealth was farming and cheese making for which it was famous as early as 1170 AD.

[19] The manor of Cheddar was deforested in 1337 and Bishop Ralph was granted a licence by the King to create a hunting forest.

[12] In the 17th and 18th centuries, there were several watermills which ground corn and made paper, with 13 mills on the Yeo at the peak, declining to seven by 1791 and just three by 1915.

While Axbridge grew in importance as a centre for cloth manufacturing in the Tudor period and gained a charter from King John, Cheddar remained a more dispersed mining and dairy-farming village.

The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning.

Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.

[38] It is also part of the Wells and Mendip Hills county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Cheddar is twinned with Felsberg, Germany and Vernouillet, France, and it has an active programme of exchange visits.

Gough's Cave, which was discovered in 1903,[45] leads around 400 m (437 yd) into the rock-face, and contains a variety of large rock chambers and formations.

The slug Arion fasciatus, which has a restricted distribution in the south of England, and the soldier beetle Cantharis fusca also occur.

[54] By far the largest of the SSSIs is called Cheddar Complex and covers 441.3 hectares (1,090.5 acres) of the gorge, caves and the surrounding area.

The output in 2005 was around 4,000 tonnes of limestone per day, one third of which was supplied to an on-site lime kiln, which closed in 2009;[58] the remainder was sold as coated or dusted aggregates.

In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms.

It provided a fast link with the main markets for the strawberries in Birmingham and London, but finally closed in 1964,[71] becoming part of the Cheddar Valley Railway Nature Reserve.

[72] Cheddar Ales is a small brewery based in the village, producing beer for local public houses.

[78] The clubs raise money for projects in the local community and hold annual events such as a fireworks display, duck races in the Gorge, a dragon boat race on the reservoir and concerts on the grounds of the nearby St Michael's Cheshire Home.

[81] Trina Gulliver, ten-time World Professional Darts Champion, previously lived in Cheddar until 2017.

It has a central octagonal pier, a socket raised on four steps, a hexagonal shelter with six arched four-centred openings, shallow two-stage buttresses at each angle, and an embattled parapet.

[89] The cross was badly damaged again in March 2012, when a taxi crashed into it late at night demolishing two sides.

[90][91] Repair work, which included the addition of wooden-clad steel posts to protect against future crashes, was completed in November 2012 at a cost of £60,000.

Sections of the now-disused railway have been opened as the Strawberry Line Trail, which currently runs from Yatton to Cheddar.

The academy owns and runs a sports centre and swimming pool, Kings Fitness & Leisure, with facilities that are used by students as well as residents.

In 2009 plans were revealed to move the club from its present home at Bowdens Park on Draycott Road to a new larger site.

[112] Cheddar Cricket Club was formed in the late 19th century and moved to Sharpham Road Playing Fields in 1964.