CITATION RED POINT COAST SITE OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST ( / ) Site code: 1338 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE: NC 930657

OS 1:50,000 SHEET NO: Landranger Series 10 and 11 1:25,000 SHEET NO: Explorer Series 449

AREA: 165.66 hectares

NOTIFIED NATURAL FEATURES

Geological: Stratigraphy: Non-marine Devonian Quaternary geology and geomorphology: Quaternary of

Biological: Coastlands: Maritime cliff Vascular : Scottish primrose ( scotica) : Guillemot (Uria aalge)

DESCRIPTION Red Point Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is a 6km stretch of coastline between Sandside Bay in Caithness and Melvich Bay in Sutherland. The site has been designated for the nationally important geology, coastal vegetation and breeding seabirds. The site contains two geological features: ancient lake margin sediments from the Middle Devonian (around 390 million years ago) and Quaternary sediments deposited by Ice Age glaciers (around 22,000 years ago). The cliff-top vegetation includes large colonies of Scottish primrose Primula scotica and the cliffs themselves support colonies of breeding seabirds.

Non-marine Devonian (geology) The geology at Red Point shows the best known example of Middle Devonian lake- margin deposits lying directly on top of ‘Moine’ rocks which are up to 1000 million years old. The ancient Moine rocks had been eroded to form a landscape of hills and hollows by Middle Devonian times. The Middle Devonian sediments formed at the margin of a large lake known as Lake Orcadie. They include unusual algal limestone deposits, small beach ridges of angular gravel derived from the local Moine rock, river deposits formed when the level of the lake was lower, and sandstones and mudstones, including flagstones. These form a unique range of lake-margin deposits which are important to understanding the palaeogeography of the Orcadian Lake basin, and provide an insight into its lake-margin environments.

Quaternary of Scotland (geology) The Quaternary (Ice Age) sediments are exposed on the coast near Drumhollistan and comprise layers of till (glacial deposits), which are separated in most places by a layer of water-deposited sand and gravel. These deposits provide evidence for the pattern of ice movements in Caithness and the interaction between two separate ice masses of local and external origin during the last glaciation (probably around 22,000 years ago). The lower till was deposited first and contains fragments of rock transported by local ice moving from the south. The upper till forms part of the

classic shelly till of Caithness and was deposited by ice flowing from the south-east across the sea floor from the Moray Firth. The till is overlain by up to 1m of periglacial slope deposits - loose weathered rock and soil that moved down slope during a period of cold climate following the melting of the glaciers.

Maritime cliff (vegetation) Red Point Coast contains an area of maritime cliff vegetation that is an excellent example of cliff-top habitats in northern Scotland. There is a complex mixture of species-rich maritime grassland and heath communities containing characteristic maritime species such as sea plantain Plantago maritima and spring squill Scilla verna. The maritime communities occur along a narrow zone at the cliff edge, except at Sandside Head where they extend much further inland. Cliff ledge vegetation includes Scots lovage Ligusticum scoticum and roseroot Sedum rosea. Vegetation such as common scurvy grass Cochlearia officinalis and scentless mayweed Tripleurospermum maritimum occurs on cliff ledges and the tops of stacks.

Scottish primrose Primula scotica Large colonies of the nationally scarce Scottish primrose Primula scotica grow on this site. This grows in Caithness, Sutherland and , but nowhere else in the world. Red Point Coast SSSI is particularly important for Scottish primrose because the large areas of suitable habitat near Sandside Head hold over 1% of the world population.

Guillemot The cliffs at Red Point Coast SSSI have large numbers of breeding seabirds, notably guillemots. The breeding guillemot population on Red Point Coast SSSI forms more than 1% of the British population.

NOTIFICATION HISTORY First notified under the 1949 Act: 1979 Re-notified under the 1981 Act: 18 June 1986 with a 0.6 ha decrease in area Notification reviewed under the 2004 Act: 29 January 2009

REMARKS Measured area of site corrected (from 171.2 ha).

Red Point Coast SSSI is part of the North Caithness Cliffs Special Protection Area (SPA) designated for the birds listed below.

Breeding seabird assemblage Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) Guillemot (Uria aalge) Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) Puffin (Fratercula arctica) Razorbill (Alca torda)