Bunstane Cove

A fairly long seacave at the end of a geo between the north side of the Bun Stane and the mainland cliff. It is thus a RH corner cave.

The entry is a parallel sided, leaning E about 30 degrees from vertical. It faces E by N.

Inside, after 45m of main channel, the tunnel divides into two. The S tunnel is the only one visible initially as the tunnel before the divide curves gently right (N). It is at least 26 m long and the end has not been seen. The N tunnel is 24 m long beyond the dividing pillar.

Length, width and height are from LRF readings, alt from a sounding corrected for tide level - all on 31 August 23 by N Feilden.

28/4/23 A fisherman of 40 yrs local experience told N Feilden there were a pair of caves, somewhere N of Cove Bay, joined inside which could be walked through. This cave to Well Cove is an obvious candidate. This would require a landing in the S tunnel of this cave or in Well Cove, neither of which is at all easy to safely do. See sketch plan below.

Links and Resources:

25in OS Kincardineshire IV.11 1896 indicates a dotted cave about 38m long.
OS1/19/17/52 Bunstane Cove: A natural cavern in the cliff adjacent to the Bun Stane.
Geology of the Souter Head Subvolcanic Complex 2020 by C. M. Rice and D. F. Mark, 11 May 20. This is something of an update on the current (May 23) BGS overlay. Fig 1 of this paper shows this as Bunstane granite.
Photo 1 entrance looking W by S along the gut. The Bunstane is on the left. It has a noticeably flat top surface which slopes gently down until when it meets the cliff, is partly awash when the tide level is 4 m or more ACD.
Photo 2 entrance from just outside on 23 September 20 at a tide level of 2.2 m.
Photo 3 from just inside, looking inwards on 31 August 23, when the tide level was 4.4 m.
Photo 4 inside, looking inwards. There appears to be solid Bunstane granite on the right. 23 September 20 and tide level 2.2 m.
Photo 5 as photo 4 zoomed to show the rocky floor/beach of the S branch.
Photo 6 shows the branching of the S (on left) tunnel and the wider and longer N tunnel (on right). Taken on 19 May 23 at 13:12 BST when the tide level was 4.0 m ACD. The eroded profile above the water line looks typical of that produced by waves carrying gravel. This suggests a 2- 3 m higher sea level in the past.
Photo 7 the dividing pillar on 31 August 23, when the tide level was 4.4 m.
Photo 8 part of photo 7 showing the S tunnel. The low swell had enough action to make an attempt to land there uninviting. There may be more tunnel at the end where it bends leftwards (S).
Photo 9 a rather blurred view of the N tunnel. It widens somewhat in the shadow on the right. The end appears to end in a rock wall which was somewhat confirmed by the LRF laser spot on it.
Sketch plan of this cave and Well Cove over an aerial view from Canmore. This suggests that the line of the S tunnel might be aligned with the N bar of Well Cove and roughly 36 m between what can be seen up to 31/8/23 without a landing.

This entry was last updated: 2023-09-06 19:41:50

Errors or omissions in this information? Submit corrections/additions/comments for this entry to the registrars.

NGR:	NJ 95871 01567
WGS84:	57.10505, -2.06979
Length:	95 m
Vert. Range:	13 m
Altitude:	-1 m
Geology:	Aberdeen Formation - mostly Bunstane granite, some metasediment
Tags:	Cave, SeaCave
Registry:	main

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