In the annals of geological history, Siccar Point ranks among the top ten sites of interest in the British Isles. It made a deep impression on the Scottish geologist and philosopher James Hutton at the time when he was thinking about cycles of erosion and sedimentation. John Playfair's (1805) description of the discovery of the unconformity has often been quoted (as in Craig, 1975). The following excerpt shows the way Hutton's thinking was developing. "On us who saw these phenomena for the first time, the impression made will not easily be forgotten. The palpable evidence presented to us, of one of the most extraordinary and important facts in the natural history of the earth, gave a reality and substance to those theoretical speculations, which, however probable, had never till now been directly authenticated by the testimony of the senses. We often said to ourselves, What clearer evidence could we have had of the different formation of these rocks, and of the long interval which separated their formation, had we actually seen them emerging from the bosom of the deep?"

Torness Nuclear Power Station on Pease Bay just west of Siccar Point.