Bute [Overview]

"Island of Little Cumbray. On the island are no fewer than seven caves. Two of them are very remarkable. One of them is a square room of 32 feet, so high in the roof, that a person may stand upright, and seems to be the work of art. The other, the largest of the whole, penetrates so far, as never by yet to have explored". Legendary tales of superstition.

"there are six or more caves on Little Cumbrae, the largest is Monk's Cave... The others are small but in Waterloo Cave are three district layers of shell and bone deposits were found. Marshall 1939".

Notes: Two sites on the isle of Bute revealed no artefacts; excavation at Freeland on the Isle of Great Cumbrae revealed fragments of worked limestone and 2 bone needles. Waterloo Cave on Little Cumbrae only produced kitchen refuse.

Links and Resources:

Caves of Scotland Bibliography, p. 35.
Anon ND Nature Trail No 5. South end of Bute. The Bute Natural History Society.
Bryce, T H, 1904 On the cairns and tumuli of the island of Bute. PSAS 38 17-81 ( 42-44 cave at Freeland)
Bevan, P, 1962 The Caves of Bute. PAS N/L (18) 30-32
Buteshire Natural History Soc Trans 8 1915
Cullingford C H D (Ed) 1962 ed edition British Caving / An introduction to Speleology, p. 329.
Cunningham, Craig, E H et al 1911 Mem Geol Surv, Scotland. The Geology of Colonsay and Oronsay.
Haswell-Smith, Hamish, 1996 The Scottish Islands / A comprehensive guide to every Scottish Island., p. 15, location map.
Hill, Julian 1979 Reading the landscape of Bute through its geology. WEA West Scotland District. 57, location map.
Hutchinson, Walter Victor 1924-26 Britain Beautiful / A popular and illustrated account of the magnificent historical, architectural, and picturesque wonders of the counties of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. [also includes Isle of Man and Channel Isles]. Vol. 1, p. 262, The Lion Rock. Holes in a trap-dyke. Photo by Valentine & Sons.
Lacaille, A D, 1954 The Stone Age of Scotland., p 197, Freeland and Waterloo (or Russell) Caves.
Marshall, D, 1939 A survey of the caves of Bute and the Cumbraes. Trans Buteshire Nat His Soc 12 113-115. Freeland Cave 115-116,; Waterloo Cave NGR NS 141 508 17-118.
OSA, [Old] Statistical Account 1791-99, vol. 12, p. 415. Cimbracs, Ayrshire, West Kilbride.
Steers, J A, 1973 The Coast Line of Scotland. University Press, Cambridge, p. 106.

This entry was last updated: 2026-01-15 20:52:32

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NGR:	NS 06000 62000
WGS84:	55.81218, -5.09762
Length:	Not recorded
Vert. Range:	Not recorded
Altitude:	Not recorded
Geology:	Not recorded
Tags:	Other
Registry:	second

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