Skulferatu #84 - St Baldred's Cave, Auldhame, North Berwick

 

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.

 

St Baldred’s Cave from the path leading to Seacliff Beach

 

St Baldred’s Cave from the path leading to Seacliff Beach

 

St Baldred’s 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.

 

Drawing of the cave from Notes on an Ancient Cave by George Sligo

 

St Baldred’s Cave looking out past the altar stone

 

Inside the cave

 

St Baldred’s Cave from Seacliff Beach

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!

 

Skulferatu #84

 

Skulferatu #84 on a ledge in St Baldred’s Cave

 

Map showing the location of Skulferatu #84

 

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

Canmore - St Baldred's Cave

 

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