Smoo Cave
Smoo Cave is a marine and freshwater cave east of Durness in County Sutherland on the north coast of the Scottish Highlands . Its inner part is a karst cave made from the limestone of the Durness group. The old Norse word “Sumvya”, from which Smoo is derived, means “brook valley” or “column”.
The limestone cave is over 60 m long, 40 m wide and the arch above the entrance over 15 m high. This makes it the most accessible sea cave in the British Isles . The easily accessible cave, made up of two T-shaped chambers, can be reached via a steep path that leads down to a bay. The cave can also be visited by boat. Your interior is illuminated with floodlights.
The surf and a small stream that flows from the inner part of the cave have formed the narrow, approximately 800 m long fjord "Geodha Smoo" over the millennia. The stream called "Allt Smoo" flows through a hole in the ceiling into the almost 25 m long second chamber called "Falis Smoo" or Chimney Smoo. It cascades into a basin around eight meters deep. After heavy rainfall, the Allt Smoo becomes a raging brook. The blowhole and waterfall can also be viewed from a vantage point above the cave.
Excavations show that the cave was used by hunters more than 6000 years ago. Walls and Køkkenmøddinger were exposed.
Smoo Cave is a Scheduled Monument .
Legends
There are some stories about the Smoo Cave, which is also said to have been a smugglers hideout. A local legend from the 16th century tells that the tramp McMurdo murdered his victims by poking them into the blowhole of the cave. McMurdo's grave is in the graveyard of Balnakeil Church, overlooking the nearby Balnakeil Bay.
literature
- Tony Pollard, Alex Morrison (Eds.): The Early Prehistory of Scotland Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh for the University of Glasgow, 1996, ISBN 0-7486-0677-7 , ( Dalrymple monograph 3).
Web links
Coordinates: 58 ° 33 ′ 47 " N , 4 ° 43 ′ 12" W.