One of Twickenham's most famous sons, satirical poet Alexander Pope, has been given a formal pardon 250 years after he was accused of vandalising Somerset's Wookey Hole caves.

It was always claimed that Pope paid musketeers to shoot down stalactites from the caves because he wanted them to decorate a grotto at his Twickenham home.

New research has proved Pope's innocence and so the owners of Wookey Hole caves and papermill are sending a special pardon.

This has been printed on hand-made paper and it will go to St James Independent School for Boys in Cross Deep which is built over the grotto.

Peter Haylings, managing director of the caves near Wells in Somerset, said: "For many years our cave guides have been telling visitors about the vandalism of Alexander Pope but it seems the story has been twisted over the years.

"It was Lord Elgin and a local man called John Taylor who ripped out the fabulous formulations and gave them to Pope."

Pope's grotto in Twickenham is now partly filled in and collapsed.

But it still contains many crystals, flints and minerals used as decoration and obtained from many different sources.

Records show that the Wookey Hole items were placed in areas that cannot now be reached.

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