North cave (The Loops)

Sea cave in the ESE facing cliff, north of Scrabster. Linking passage to a large gloup inland and possible further passage into the headland possibly connecting with other inlets.

According to 1st Ed OS 25 in (and 6in which joins two 25 in sheets), the tunnel from this entrance runs W by N to Devil's Bridge and beyond until it meets the tunnel going SSW from the Rumbling Goes entrance. There are two small gloups on the east side of Devil's Bridge and a much longer one (30 m and 4.5 m wide) on the west side.

A little further SSW the tunnel from Rumbling Geos is joined from the west by a tunnel from The Brigs.

If the tunnels are roughly as shown on 1st Ed OS, then the total length of the system could lie in the range 340 to 385 m.

Notes: Access: by land there is a footpath from beside the lighthouse north of Scrabster which allows clifftop access, particularly to the various gloups.

Links and Resources:

1st Ed OS 25 in Caithness V.2 shows 'The Brigs' and the gloup just east of it, and tunnels as far as Rumbling Goes (Geos).
1st Ed OS 25 in Caithness V.3 is the next sheet eastward and shows the Devil's Bridge part of the system to the east entrance of which is the north branch of 'The Loops'.
OS Namebook Caithness, vol 11, parish of Thurso, p43 has 'The Loops' - Applies to two creeks or goes situated on the South east side of Holborn Head.
Pastmap Aerial of Holborn Head marked up to show this cave tunnel system - as indicated by 1st Ed OS 25 in and 6 in.
BGS solid map for Sheet ND07SE 1:10000 has this in the top right corner. It shows that this eastern end has two parallel faults with the down throw between them. These appear to run along the N and S branches of The Loops. This tunnel runs along the northern fault.
Photo 1 shows a gloup at Holborn Head. It is probably the one west of Devil's Bridge which is at ND 10835 71497. The wave is consistent with the nearest sea entrance being the entrance to this cave 71 m behind the photographer, with the photographer facing WNW.
Jim Salvona's Notebooks, 1984-1994, vol. 2, p. 147.

This entry was last updated: 2025-12-06 16:21:51

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

NGR:	ND 10868 71488
WGS84:	58.62212, -3.53638
Length:	340 m
Vert. Range:	15 m
Altitude:	0 m
Geology:	Scrabster Flagstone Member-siltstone And Sandstone
Tags:	Cave, SeaCave
Registry:	main

Other Sites Within 500m