Tom Scott on the cliffs near North Berwick that proved in the 1700s that the earth isn’t ‘young’.

“Siccar Point remains now much the same as when Hutton visited in 1788. The junction between the older, tilted layers of greywacke stone and the younger Red Sandstone is clearly visible.

Hutton realised that the formation and movement of these rocks to create the coastline at Siccar Point couldn’t happen in sudden cataclysms over years or decades.

He realised that you need tens of millions of years to effect big changes on the planet.”

Dr Iain Stewart, Geologist at the University of Plymouth.