Lizzie's Surprise Cave [E entrance]

A large, shallow funnel under the cliff overhang leads to a quite small, triangular entrance into a full range intertidal low ceilinged cavern. It is approximately a long ellipse in plan, leading at the east end to an even lower entrance which penetrates the west wall of the wide geo immediately to the east. This entrance is nearly submerged at a springs high tide. The cavern extends another 8m to the west. The cave floor is sand, with occasional large, angular boulders. These appear have fallen from the ceiling - which is corrugated with sharp angles. The inner cave empties completely at low tide except at neaps.

There is a 14 m long inner tunnel running initially NE by N from about midway between the two entrances. It then turns to the NW.

It is the largest intertidal seacave between Hopeman and the Covesea Lighthouse.

Links and Resources:

Photo 1 shows the W cliff of the geo and the E entrance low down at beach level.
Photo 2 the E entrance from closer; light from the N entrance can be seen.
Photo 3 taken while standing just outside the S side of the E entrance and looking at some undercutting of the cliff just above the beach.
Photo 4 looking SE out of the E entrance from just inside the inner cave on 10 June 2021 at 14:38 BST, when the tide level was 3.5 m (neaps) and there was not much swell. The maximum tide level here is 4.5 m which would make headroom a bit tricky. It can be seen that there may be another cave in the SE corner of the geo - but it is almost completely filled with sand.
Photo 5 was taken immediately after photo 4 from outside. A bit of light from the N entrance can be made out.

This entry was last updated: 2021-11-21 14:56:54

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NGR:	NJ 16526 70349
WGS84:	57.71514, -3.40277
Length:	90 m
Vert. Range:	Not recorded
Altitude:	1 m
Geology:	Hopeman Sandstone Formation
Tags:	Other
Registry:	main

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