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Ravenscraig Castle Cave [1] [Kirkcaldy]

Kirkcaldy, Fife.

Sea Cave located at the upper limits of the inter-tidal zone off Ravens Crag below the castle at Pathhead Sands, Kirkcaldy. Gated entry.

On first glance, a sealed off cave at the bottom of the cliff looks innocuous enough, intriguing even, yet this is the location of a terrible tragedy which occurred on Hansel Monday, 1740. A group of youngsters had been playing hide and seek and several had taken refuge deep in the cave, believing they were 'safe'. Without warning, the roof of the cave collapsed on top of them and ten children were killed. [From Hill to Sea]

This is a raised-beach cave directly under Ravenscraig Castle, at Kirkcaldy. An online article identifies it as the site where ten children were killed by a roof collapse on Handsel Monday (first Monday in January, an old public holiday) in 1740, which would make it I think Britian's worst caving accident..... More reliable is a brief account in Muir (1862) Gleanings from the Records of Dysart from 1545 to 1796 which 85 recounts the story but simply gives 'a cave' as the location. [Peter Ryder]

Alternative Names: None recorded.

Notes: Although the cave opens onto the beach the tide rarely comes high enough to reach the cave entrance. Grass has now colonized the sand which was all sand in the 1960s. Landscaping of the area between the harbour maltings (and sewage works) created a public park behind a concrete sea wall raising the ground level to the west of the castle and there is now a concrete walkway at the base of the crag.

There is no evidence of a roof collapse within the cave, however the presence of other smaller caves around the crag and the construction of sea walls and other sea defenses at various times is a reminder that the cliff face has been eroding and since 1740 there may have been may collapses of the cliff face. There may at one time have been a much larger cave from which the evidence of a collapse has eroded away or the collapse may have occurred in another cave now lost behind the sea defenses.

See also Ravenscraig Undercut and Ravenscraig Castle Cave [2] [Kirkcaldy].

Hydrographic Feeds: None

Hydrographic Resurgences: None