History of the College of Roseisle

A few months ago a very kind chap from Lossiemouth gave me photocopies of some very old drawings/maps of the College of Roseisle area showing how the Loch of Spynie (now much diminished) extended close to where we live and even showed the possibility that the sea extended inland from Burghead Bay to meet the loch.

It is entirely feasible that the water did extend all the way through from Burghead to what is now Lossiemouth. While we all like to think that our houses sit on solid ground that may not actually be so. According to geological maps, parts of College of Roseisle should be sitting on top of 10 metres or so of sand and gravel overlying Old Red Sandstone. When we had a borehole drilled for our heatpump it came as a bit of a surprise to find that our house was sitting on top of 60 metres of sand, clay, boulders and gravel which overlay the Old Red Sandstone.

At 120 metres depth they came across the underground lake which is, so we are told, the largest underground lake in Scotland.

Depending on which website you consult, College of Roseisle may be under water again in around 200 years – all depending on how sea levels rise in the future.

Anyway, on a more positive note I attach the drawings which I hope are of interest.

davidhetherington26@gmail.com