A few miles from North Berwick there is
a turn off down a single track road that leads down to Seacliff Beach. Past the toll barrier and down the narrow,
bumpy road a red sandstone cliff towers over one of the car parking areas. In the cliff, and usually obscured by a
parked car or van, there is a rather non-descript looking cave with a large
boulder standing in front of it. This is
St Baldred’s Cave, which used to be known as Seacliff Cave.
Saint Baldred
was a Northumbrian monk who is believed to have lived around the mid to late Eighth
Century. He is said to have founded an
abbey at Tyninghame, though mainly lived in a small hermitage on the Bass Rock and
sometimes, when he fancied a wee change, in the cave by Seacliff beach.
Saint Baldred led a simple and frugal
life of prayer and contemplation, which is probably just as well as the cave
does not look like the most comfortable place to live. It is damp and cold with little shelter from
the wind and elements. It is also full
of stinging nettles. However, as a good
old fashioned Christian saint, Baldred would have no doubt made a bed from
these and slept naked on them as it snowed outside. Maybe I’m being a bit harsh on old Baldred,
as though the cave is known by his name, he most likely had nothing to do with
it and never stayed there. The cave’s supposed
association with him in fact hides a dark and sinister past, as it would appear
that back in the mists of time, probably around the Iron Age, the cave was a
place of pagan worship and human sacrifice.
In 1831, George Sligo, who owned the
land around Seacliff, had work carried out to create a pathway down to the
beach. To do this a large hill of sand
that rose up against the cliff had to be removed, and during its removal the
cave was discovered. Sligo, who was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland, then set about examining and noting everything within the cave. He described how a stone standing at the
front of the cave appeared to be an altar and that there was an eight shaped
pavement of stones within the cave.
There were also lots of charred bones and piles of ash inside the
cave. The bones were found to be human as
well as those of animals such as pigs, sheep, horses, and dogs. On the altar stone itself, Sligo found charcoal
and bones that were firmly adhered to it, which he concluded had probably ‘been
caused by the sprinkling of the blood of the victim by the priest during
sacrifice.’ Within the cave he also
found the fragments of several earthenware pots and a carved tusk that appeared
to be the handle for a knife.
The finding of the cave caused a bit of
a stir in the local community and many people came out to see it. Due to this, Sligo became slightly worried
about the altar stone, as its foundation was a bit weak, and he feared that it
may topple over if someone tried to climb it.
So, he had one of the foundation stones removed to put a larger and
sturdier one in its place. On doing this
some of the clay that had been used to bind the stones together fell away
revealing the skeleton of a very young child.
On examining the opposite side of the altar Sligo found the skeleton of
another child there. The children, both
appeared to have been the sacrificial victims of whatever cult had worshipped
at the cave.
Today, as I walked into the cave, I
could see no evidence of its dark past. Near
to the entrance lay the charcoal and foil remnants of several disposable barbecues,
so in a way I suppose offerings of burnt meat are still made here. The floor of the cave was hidden under
vegetation, sand, soil, and plastic dog poo bags full of shit. While the back of the cave had been utilised
as a toilet by beach goers who had been caught short, and it was scattered with
poo and toilet paper. In short, there
was nothing left there of its dark past...well, except for that altar stone
sitting right outside the entrance. And
at this point I should give a word of warning to all you out of towners
thinking of taking a trip to Seacliff.
That is, if you notice any of the locals staring at you be very, very
wary. You may think human sacrifice is
something from the past, but I’ve watched ‘The Wicker Man’ and ‘Midsommar’, so I
know just what these rural folk really get up to!
I left a small earthenware Skulferatu on
a rock ledge in the cave, as my offering to the ancient gods. Hopefully, they’ll appreciate that a bit more
than the poo and garbage left by most visitors.
The coordinates for the location of the
Skulferatu are –
Latitude 56.05149
Longitude -2.636708
what3words: snooty.occupations.cave
I used the following sources for
information on St Baldred’s Cave –
Canmore
Notes on an Ancient Cave,
& c,. discovered at Aldham, now called Seacliff, in East Lothian, in 1831.
By George Sligo
1832
Royal Commission on
Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland - Eighth Report with Inventory of
Monuments and Constructions in the County of East Lothian.
1924
Evidence of Human
Sacrifice in Seacliff Cave, Scotland
Proceedings of the
Prehistoric Society of East Anglia, Volume 7, Issue 3
1934
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