Bowduns N (5)

A rather unusual upper intertidal seacave which faces NE, but doubles back on itself on the SE side.

It starts like a near vertical rift cave, but the rift appears to stop at ceiling level about 1/3 of the way SW into the first tunnel. At 22 m in, it then goes left to the SE(133, 2nd tunnel) for 5.4 m into a low cavern. The left wall of this runs NE (052) for 12.7 m (3rd tunnel) the last 4 m of which is a narrow tunnel ending in a flat end ie not a single rift tapering to a crack. This end appears to come very near the line of Bowduns N(4) tunnel - but this has only be observed from about 15 m away outside (as of 8/6/23). The plan of this cave is somewhat like a deep hook.

Near the SW end of the first tunnel, it widens by about 3 m to NW. This tunnel extends 3.1 m low down past the apparent end. The far side on the SE end of the 2nd tunnel is 4 m beyond the corner between 2nd and third tunnels. The floor of the first tunnel is ridged bedrock which is intertidal on the NW side, with a low shelf on the SE. It blends into a gradually rising beach until about 17 m or so in, after which the storm beach goes up at ca 20 degrees to a ridge under the apparent end wall. Beyond that it slopes down to the low end by ca 5 degrees.

The inner cave has patches of silver sparkles. Orb webs and lines of cave spiders seen on both sides of the intertidal entrance on 13 June 23.

A small stalactite was accidentally broken off the NE side of the 2nd tunnel on the same visit. It looks a bit like a bit of antler - in a curved upside down Y shape. A white bit of it bubbled a bit with hydrochloric acid. See photos 16 & 17.

Notes: Access: By sea at high tide - needs low NE swell & 4.1 m ACD was ideal.

By land: in low 1/2 of tide, from SE side of Strathlethan Bay. Confirmed by bootprints inside cave on 8/6/23 & visit by land on 13/6/23. It is muddy in the second tunnel - where crawling is necessary.

Measured for length etc on 8 June 23 by Nigel Feilden. Tunnel directions 1-3 by hb compass.

Links and Resources:

1st Ed 25" OS gives this cave a straight dotted tunnel scaled to 32 m. Bowduns N (4) is shown a bit shorter and parallel to it.
sketch plan over Bing aerial. There is a maze of subtidal channels and rocky reefs and islets immediately offshore.
Photo 1 shows entrances to Bowduns N(4) on the left and this cave on the right. There is a high blade of conglomerate between entrances. Taken 11 April 2019.
Photo 2 entrance taken on 14 July 22, when the tide level was 4.4 m ACD.
Photo 3 entrance from close on 8 June 23, when the tide level was 4.1 m. There was room to paddle as far as the beach.
Photo 4 a cave spider's web (meta menardi) just inside the entrance, on the west side. A nice bit of orb web. Taken on 13 June 23.
Photo 5 looking out of the entrance from about 20 m inside the 1st tunnel.
Photo 6 looking up above the entrance from the same spot as photo 4. Note how the near vertical rift peters out to a flat ceiling which has few protruding cobbles; unlike the walls.
Photo 7 shows the ceiling again, but looking the other way (SW).
Photo 8 the apparent end of the first tunnel. It continues past the black horizontal slot for another 3.1 m, low down. The 2nd tunnel goes left past the rock on the left, approximately SE.
Photo 9 from about 22 m inside 1st tunnel, looking right at an alcove which extends 5.4 m NW from the SE wall ie about 2.5 m indentation into the rest of the NW wall.
Photo 10 looking SE into the 2nd tunnel. It is a hands & knees crawl for 3-4 m from here and was covered with about 5 mm of a clay like mud on 8 June 23, as was the wall on the left (NE).
Photo 11 looking - zoomed - at SE wall from same position as photo 9.
Photo 12 looking SSW ish at ceiling coming down to beach from a little further SE along tunnel 2.
Photo 13 looking E by N along the line of tunnel 3, from the corner between 2nd and 3rd tunnels. The last 4 m of the third tunnel narrows to 1.0 m wide and is 1.8 m tall. Note flotsam which has collected before that narrows. The end is 12.7 m from the aforementioned corner.
Photo 14 E end of 3rd tunnel. Note flat and reddish coloured ceiling. This appears to be covered with a deposit of reddish mud - poses the question of how it got there. The ceiling in much of the rest of the cave appears similar. Note also the silver sparkles at upper left.
Photo 15 looking W by S from the point where the third tunnel widens, back towards the corner on R, mentioned for photo 12.
Photo 16 looking ca NW at the edge of a ridge in the ceiling just outside the narrow part of the 3rd tunnel. Note rounded pebbles showing it is conglomerate; in the otherwise rather flat ceiling surface. Taken 13 June 23.
Photo 17 the stalactite - after washing mud off and partly dried. It ended up much paler. The fresh break surface is at the top. The breaks at the ends of the branches are old.
Photo 18 view of the fresh break surface of the stalactite. Note the growth rings - which are very one sided - probably on the NW side ie the direction leading to the cave entrance (although at right angles to it - see plan below).
sketch plan showing stalactite location.

This entry was last updated: 2026-05-12 15:54:30

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

NGR:	NO 88314 84592
WGS84:	56.95243, -2.19374
Length:	48 m
Vert. Range:	5.5 m
Altitude:	3 m
Geology:	Dunnottar Conglomerate
Tags:	Cave, SeaCave
Registry:	main

Other Sites Within 500m