North Berwick Law

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North Berwick Law
The whale's jawbone as it sat on top of North Berwick Law
Elevation	187 m (613 ft)
Location	East Lothian, Scotland
Prominence	c. 167 m
Topo map	OS Landranger 66
OS grid reference	NT555842
Listing	Marilyn

North Berwick Law is a conical hill which rises incongruously from the surrounding landscape (indeed, this is the definition of the Lowland Scots word "law"). It overlooks East Lothian town of North Berwick and stands at 613 ft (187 m) above sea level.

Geologically, the law is a volcanic plug of hard basalt rock which survived the scraping glaciers of the ice age, and is now neatly rounded off.

The summit also bears some ancient ruins. These buildings were once used by lookouts in the Napoleonic Wars.

The famous whale's jawbone, pictured right, collapsed in June 2005 after rotting away, and was removed by helicopter, much to the surprise of North Berwick residents. A jawbone has stood there since 1709, the last one having been there since 1933.

In 2008, a fibreglass replica whale bone, the same size as the one that was removed in 2005, is set to be airlifted into place to give North Berwick Law back its famous landmark.[1]