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St Gerardine's Cave

Lossiemouth, Moray, (Elginshire).

Rock cut oratory, now quarried away.

The cave dedicated to the Irish saint known as St. Gerardine, or more properly Gervadius, was, before it was quarried away, situated in a cliff beside the railway station. It is mentioned in the Elgin Charters as Holy-Manhead, though this name also appears as Holyman Head, and was a place of pilgrimage in the 16th century.

The cave had been formed into a small hermitage and oratory, established about AD 934, not exceeding 12ft square with a Gothic door and window commanding a view along the eastern shore. The Gothic decoration was destroyed about 1768. [Canmore]

Given the length of time since it was quarried away, it is impossible to tell if this was originally a natural cave which was expanded and elaborated or if it was entirely man-made. The date of destruction of the Gothic decoration suggests Calvinistic objections to perceived Catholicism. St. Gerardine's Well was adjacent to the 'cave'.

The Halliman Skerries retain the reference to St Gervadius. He died in 934 and his cave was a place of pilgrimage right up to the 16th century.

Alternative Names: Holy-Manhead, Holyman Head

Notes: Site of cave shown on 1870 OS map, Sheet III.9 combined (1:2500). The Bothy on Quarry Road may be the (much altered) remains of Victoria Cottage built in the original sandstone quarry at the north end of East Quarry. The site of the cave and well are indicated as in front of this cottage. More modern guides place the cave closer to the War Memorial to the NE on Pitgaveny Street.

Gervardius, Gervat (d. ~934 AD) was an Irish saint. His feast day is celebrated on 8 November. He was an Irishman who established himself as a hermit in Scotland, near Kenedor (present day Kinneddar, Lossiemouth, Moray). He may have emigrated to escape Viking raids in his native land. It is possible he may have been part of a Gaelic religious community that was present in Kinneddar in the 10th century, and who placed his cell in a cave in a rocky promontory to the east. The early maps give reference to his having been there by naming the area Holyman's Head near Elgin. His cave became a place of pilgrimage right up to the Reformation and survived into the 19th century before being quarried [Wiki]

The original Scots Gaelic form of the name Gerardine was Gartnaidh which appears in various Pictish King Lists.

The site is located immediately east of the former Lossiemouth East Quarry (now a SSSI), from which a number of Triassic reptilian fossils were obtained whilst quarrying the Lossiemouth Sandstone for building stone. "The site is one of the richest late-Triassic-age reptile sites in Britain and has yielded eighty individuals representing eight different species. Some of the fossils are unique to this site". [NatureScot]