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Gaylet Pot

S of Castlesea Bay. S of Auchmithie, Arbroath, Angus, (Forfarshire).

"The most curious of all the wild scenes on this rocky coast is the Geary or Gaylet Pot, in a field not far from Auchmithie. It is a huge pit, about fifty yards in diameter, more than one hundred yards from the front of the cliffs facing the sea, and forty yards in depth below the surface of the field. The entrance from the sea is seventy feet high by forty broad, and it contracts gradually till it enters the bottom of the pit, where it is about twelve feet in height and breadth. At high water in easterly storms the water is impelled into the pit with extreme violence and loud noise, and the water boils, and surges, and froths in an extraordinary manner. The bottom of the pit can be reached from the field at low water, as the soil slopes down from the north-west side, but in other parts the rocks are all but perpendicular." (1)

The above description is reasonably accurate. See Gaylet Pot Sea Cave (S Entrance) for a fuller description and photos of the tunnel.

The aerial view suggests that there were two tunnel collapses - presumably the N one first.

The cavern(s) into which the collapses took place may have been quite large.

See the link below to a photo of a recent collapse to produce a new gloup into Christie Hole, Papa Stour.

Alternate Names: Geary Pot, Cave 32

Notes: Access: This entrance can be seen from the side of Gaylet Pot which may be reached from the Auchmithie-Arbroath coast path if the field is in grass or there is no growing crop.

Otherwise by boat from Arbroath.

Length is 117 m between entrances + 10 + 4 for side tunnels. The 4 is an an estimate and can likely be more accurately measured at low tide. Altitude is ACD, VR and Alt are for this entrance - see S entrance for more photos and a fuller description of the tunnel.

Based on a visit by kayak while using a Garmin 78s on 23 Jun 18, and the OS on the Canmore website, the sea entry to the seacave is at NO 67901 43215 and the Gaylet Pot end is at NO 67873 43330. The cave is nearly straight - thus the length is 118 m or 388 ft - rather than the 300 ft given in the current description for this seacave/tunnel/subterranean passage. The 1875 6" OS records the sea entrance as a cave, but does not have dashed lines for the tunnel (as it does for a number of other sea caves).