Ancient caves could be one of Scotland’s hidden gems

Fife’s ancient Wemyss Caves are in the running to be listed as one of Scotland’s hidden gems.

A new national competition to be run throughout the summer is looking to unearth some of the country’s overlooked heritage sites.

The Wemyss Caves at East Wemyss have been listed as one of the 32 sites up for a slot in the top six.

The contest, run by Dig It! 2017 as part of Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, follows a celebration of the nation’s six Unesco world heritage sites.

The Save the Wemyss Ancient Caves Society (Swacs) is now trying to raise awareness of the caves’ fascinating heritage as public voting opens tomorrow.

Swacs will also launch its new 4D interactive website the same day.

This will let users “walk through” detailed recreations of the caves, learning about their history and their ancient drawings.

The website will introduce the feature to a new generation through “digital discovery”, with a combination of scanning and 3D modelling producing accurate recreations of the caves and the surrounding area.

Swacs chairman Mike Arrowsmith said: “This is a really exciting time for Swacs.

“We’re delighted that the caves are in the running to be one of Scotland’s hidden gems.

“Swacs has always promoted the value and history of these caves and for them to be even nominated in this national competition is a significant recognition of just how valuable the caves and their contents are.”

He added: “With the competition launching on the same day as our new 4D website, as well as our summer programme of guided ours, now is a great time for people to find out more about the history of the Wemyss Caves.”

The caves, formed between 5,000 and 8,000 years ago, are home to the highest concentration of Pictish carvings in Europe.

Information on the Dig It! 2017 Scotland in Six contest can be found at bit.ly/2sjr1kt.