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Elephant Cave No.1

Leirinbeg, Durness, Sutherland.

Sea cave.

Located about 400m west of the mouth of the Geodha Smoo are two interesting and near-contiguous sea caves.

The eastern site, Elephant Cave No.1, comprises a wide and mostly open tall shelter that occupies most of a raised embayment's eastern cliff. A small crawl entrance at the southern side of the embayment (more often a controlled downwards slide) leads into the surprisingly lofty and dark cavern of Coventry Chamber.

Alternative Names: None recorded.

Notes: Accessing the site requires a cautious scramble down a steep rocky slope from the grassy cliff top. Whilst most of the cave seems to be supratidal, it is subject to crashing waves in rough conditions, and footwear with good grip is absolutely essential due to the very slippery nature of the entrances, especially on a falling tide.

Beware, the rock in the entrance to Coventry Chamber can be particularly slippery when wet and you may have difficulty getting back out the cave. Furthermore, in the wave cut platform are two blowhole entrances (Elephant Cave No.2) which need to be passed to reach the site; one large and fairly obvious, and a more discrete narrow lens.

Earliest known access was by Colin Coventry, c. 1989. He named the cave for the 7 m tall rock formation near the entrance.

The ruined buildings near the top of the cliff are the remains of 'RAF Sango' radar station.