Sea Kayaking Northumberland's video: Sea Kayaking Northumberland - St Abbs Head March 2022

The rugged Berwickshire coastline at St Abbs has been shaped over millions of years. North and south of the headland, layered greywacke and siltstone rocks were deposited at the bottom of the sea over 400 million years ago, while around the same time St Abb’s Head itself was formed by lava pouring from volcanoes. The soft greywacke and siltstone have been eroded by wind and water over the millennia, but the hard volcanic rock has been more resistant, leaving behind the high headland. However, even this hard rock has been pounded away by the force of the sea, leaving steep gullies and sea stacks — ideal nesting sites for seabirds. The cliffs provide spectacular vantage points from which to watch these seabirds. As well as guillemots, kittiwakes and razorbills, there are shags, herring gulls and fulmars. Guillemots are penguin-like birds with white fronts and brownish-black backs, and you’ll see them crowding tightly together on the broad ledges and sides of offshore stacks, especially to the north of the lighthouse. Razorbills look similar to guillemots, but have jet black backs and shorter bills with white markings. They prefer to nest in pairs or smaller groups. Named after the call they make, kittiwakes are small, graceful silver-grey gulls with black wing tips. They build their grass and mud nests on sheer cliff faces and are unmistakable because of their cries of ‘kitti-waake’. Fulmars nest higher up on grassy ledges or crevices, defending their nests by spitting foul-smelling fish oil at intruders. They are supreme gliders with long, narrow wings. Shags and herring gulls prefer the low, flat rocks for nesting. Look out for northern gannets too – in 2017 they bred at St Abb’s Head for the first time in living memory. The story of St Abb’s Head stretches back to prehistoric times. Traces of an Iron Age fort hint at the long history of human settlement here, as do the remains of an 11th-century kirk and burial ground dedicated to Aebbe, a 7th-century Northumbrian princess. Aebbe, after whom the headland and village are named, was sainted for spreading Christianity through this previously pagan land. More recently, a Stevenson-designed lighthouse was built in 1862. Originally powered by coal and oil, it was the first lighthouse in Scotland to have a fog horn (now silent). The lighthouse was manned by three full-time keepers until it became automated in 1994. Music - Inborn created by Piotr Hummel - used via Artlist https://artlist.io/song/74843/inborn