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Ophelia's Bathplug Cave

Muchalls, Aberdeenshire, (Kincardineshire).

An interesting sea cave with rich green vegetation growing outside the entrance. A small cave which is very wet due to stream flowing through it. 2-3 m climb on slimy rock to the entrance ledge. Entrance 2 m high and 3 m wide leads under a rock arch to a small chamber with a waterfall at the back descending from the darkness of an aven. The cave rises 6 m in a 2-3 m wide tube from the base of the waterfall with several small ledges on the way up. The waterfall has left a bright iron-orange flowstone-like formation on the wall of the aven and the water issues from a crevice which was difficult to reach. The top of the aven is sealed by a huge boulder [the Plug]; behind it lay many tonnes of smaller boulders through which the water seeps.

Ophelia's pool at NO 90194 91256, fed by the Easter Muchalls mill stream, is on the other side of the cliff and the water probably comes from there. On north side of the pool the volcanic rock is heavily fissured and this is probably where the water seeps into the cave below. [GSG Bulletin]

There was the sound of water like a half open tap coming from inside on 27/8/19. [Nigel Feilden]

Alternative Names: Doonie Point (N)

Notes: Found and named by Tamlin Barton & Phillipa Patterson in 2013 - see Bulletin article.

A local notice-board points out that the Ophelia's pool was the location for the drowning scene of Ophelia in Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 film of Hamlet (with Mel Gibson as Hamlet and Helena Bonham Carter as Ophelia. Glenn Close played Gertrude and Alan Bates was King Claudius).

Hydrographic Feeds: Easter Muchalls mill stream