Visited this site today, as it's adjacent to the Loak standing Stone. From Canmore: "This is a large turf-covered barrow, mainly of earth but with some stone evident, 4.0 to 5.0m high and formerly covered by trees. It is situated on relatively flat arable land and is readily visible from all directions. A slight terrace effect halfway down the east side of the tumulus is probably due to the tree-planting. Traditionally the site of judicial courts held prior to 1745."
Hence the alternative name. There's little else in Canmore about it, so presumably it hasn't been excavated. The farmer did tell me, however, that this area lies on a gravel bed, and that the local estate has made some plans to quarry for this. He wasn't sure how advanced the plans were - but possibly another cause for Heritage Action? I'll be keeping a close eye on local developments here.
The view from the cairn is quite spectacular, and I make no apologies for posting a couple of pictures of these. The cairn seems to be the central feature in a number of low mounds running NW towards the Obney hills, which can be faintly discerned in a couple of the pictures. Anyone have any theories for this? A long line of standing stones runs from Denmarkfield Farm, through Cramflat, Gellybanks, Loak, and Pitsundry to the Witch's Stone at Meickle Obney. Could be just serendipity, though...
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Visited here today. The stones still exist, and are in the garden of a small cottage, protected at the rear by a large hedge. Canmore states: "Two standing stones 10' apart W of the main road at Dowally. They are respectively 8'7" and 7'8" high and 8' and 10'11" basal girth." In 1975 it was noted that one stone had fallen, otherwise the description is correct. This has since been re-erected, and I was unable to find out which one - presumably the one hit by the bus, however!
The western stone has a huge line of quartz running vertically down the west side of it. They're quite a decent size and impressive standing out pale against the dark hedge.
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Had another look at this site today, a fine clear afternoon and (unusually) no cattle-beasts in the field for a change. This was one of the first sites I visited when I started recording the stones in my area, and I only took a couple of general photos. I have removed these and replaced them with the current set, which quite clearly show the large cup marks on the NE stone.
Canmore states: "A 'circle of stones' forming a triangle whose sides are 25'10" x 28'10" x 29'4". There is also a small outlying stone on the north side. The first measures 5' x 4' x 10" high; the second, 2' x 3' x 3'6" high; the third, 2' x 2' x 3'8" high.
On the E side of the latter are 21 cups, varying from 1"-3" in diameter. 6 are surrounded by single rings and connecting grooves. On the west side are 16 cups, varying from 1"-2 1/2" in diameter. There is also a connecting groove at one side.
J R Allen 1881."
These are all easily visible in the photos. The view from this elevated field is quite spectacular, with the Sidlaws behind and the long slow slope south towards the mouth of the Tay.
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I received an e-mail last night from George Currie, one of the Scottish Megaraks with a habit of turning up relatively unknown sites. In part it read "the possibility of a stone circle in the seedlees might be of interest . i noticed it last summer and thought it landscaped a la "cuddy stanes" but had another look today and i'm not so sure . anyway it's near the short cist in auchterhouse approx 3560 3888 . there are 5 stones in heather 40 metres in diameter , a path goes round them hence the landscaping effect. anyone wanting to have a look (it's nearly yer backies nick) park in the layby just after the double gates just west of the 234m height mark on the map, walk back to the stile on the bend cross field to the N.W. over the rise and the stones are due south of the pylon which is about 150 yds away"
Couldn't resist that as I hadn't been out for ages, so off I set this morning into what was an extremely dreich day. His instructions are spot on except it's NE not NW, and I walked past the site initially trying to find the pylon in the mist...
It's definitely the remains of a circle, I estimate probably 12 stones originally, of which one solitary one to the west survives, along with 4 on the eastern arc. None of them terribly tall, but it sits in a lovely little natural amphitheatre. The photographs are terrible, the mist was very thick, and I'll try to get back on a sunny day to see it in a better light. A great atmosphere though even in the mist and drizzle, and only a short distance away from the Balkello stone.
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As Mr Sweet has said, this is in the grounds of a school, so ensure that you ask before visiting. This is a large, almost triangular stone, around 8 feet tall, with no visible markings.
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This stone is now recumbent, lying a few metres from where it once stood on a patch of rough ground and gorse. I spoke to the farmer, who said it had been moved there after it fell some number of years ago, and he is currently musing about re-erecting it. It would stand around 8 feet tall if he does so, it's a fairly solid piece of whinstone!
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According to CANMORE, this is a cairn, approximately 19m in diameter, with a single standing stone on the SSW quadrant. The field was full of bullocks today, so discretion kicked in and I couldn't confirm the stone itself, having to be content with a couple of rather atmospheric photographs of the cairn looming out of the mist. There are a couple of projecting stones which show up fairly clearly, which the CANMORE researcher thought might be part of a kerb.
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Literally feet away from the circle here is a large cup marked rock, with around fourteen cup marks and the vague outlines of a couple of rings. It used to be in the centre of the circle before the circle was moved to its present position.
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I came back to have another look here nearly 4 years on from my initial visit, armed with more information and the benefit of 4 years intensive stone-visiting. Although Canmore describes 3 stones, there is a fourth, at a greater distance from the other 3, but on exactly the same ENE-WSW alignment. The 3 stones lie approximately 7m apart, the 'outlier' is 35m away from the most easterly of the 3. Not sure about this - it's not as large as the 3 in the row, but just looks and feels right. The most easterly in the row does have some possible weathered cup marks on the upper face.
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According to Canmore, the four poster measures less than 3m across, and contains 2 recumbent boulders on the SW and NW, and two smaller earth-fast boulders, both broken. The NW stone has 3 cup marks on the upper surface.
And that's almost exactly what is here. It lies at the SW end of the stone row, and the view up to the NE is quite spectacular.
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Revisited this today armed with a bit more information. There are two sites here, the row/alignment, and the remains of a four poster. Both of these contain cup marks.
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Another one supplied by George Currie, he mentioned it on the Scotstone list and so I wandered out there today to have a look. It's definitely a disrupted four poster, though there are several other stones lying nearby - field clearance or part of something else? I'm not sure. George thought he saw a cup mark on one of the stones, but I'm not convinced. Nice little placement though, and ignoring the trees it sits on a little platform just below the summit of the hill.
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George Currie discovered this stone on our recent trip to Upper Gaskan - http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/4228
On the track back downhill, as we were nearing the road junction, he leapt off the track into the trees and began brushing pine needles off a large boulder. We stood, wondering what on earth he was up to. Then -"Aha!" - we all piled in to see what he had found. And there was a cup marked rock - one cup surrounded by a circle of several more. The photo's aren't too great as it was dim and dark in there, but George scores again! We think he can smell them....
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We visited on 9th November - very interesting site, though the trees make it difficult to photograph, and the shade of the trees adds to the problems. Just NE of the site are the remains of 2 small cairns, robbed-out to help build a nearby wall, and largely ruined by foresting machinery. One of the pictures illustrates the southernmore cairn.
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This is not exactly in the place indicated by Canmore, though it is rather difficult to miss. Easily visible from the road, a couple of hundred metres in, a small knoll with a very prominent stone on top. This has several cup marks on it, one being very large. They are all quite weathered.
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Visited by the Scottish Megaraks on 9th November 2003, as part of a day out. This extremely large stone sits just beside the road, acting as part of a cottage's garden wall. There are supposed to be cup marks visible on the top, but it was almost completely covered by ivy, so this could not be ascertained.
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Situated by the side of the road running through Glencoe, according to the board at the Isles of Glencoe Hotel this is an Iron Age hillfort. I didn't have time to have a good look but took a couple of photographs from a distance - into the sun, so they're not too great. One to visit next time I'm in the area...
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I had a look for this one but couldn't trace it....
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This lies just to the west of the road after crossing the Ballachulish bridge. Best accessed from the side road leading into the village, and following the track down under the bridge and round. Pretty destroyed now, and no sign of either chambering or kerbs, seems to be being used as a field clearance dump as there were a lot of rolls of wire and such like lying around on it. Pretty sad, except for its location - the views along Loch Linnhe are stunning.
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Ask permission to visit this at the Golf Club, which lies just beside the wee road leading to Ballachulish House. This cairn is pretty rubbed out, and only a few of the kerb stones survive, but the cist is still in situ, with a slightly dislodged capstone. Apparently when excavated in 1972 no skeletal remains were found, though there was evidence of previous disturbance. Fragments of a food vessel found on the cist floor are in the National Museum of Scottish Antiquities.
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I work offshore in the North Sea as a rig medic. 55+ years old. Nationalist to the core. Have been interested in ancient sites as long as I can remember, due to my Dad's interest in history. Traced my ancestry back to the 1650's. Run a website about the little Fife town I was born and brought up in, Burntisland. Run a website on Stone Circles in Angus and Perthshire. Learning Gaelic, but not very fluent so far. Spend a lot of time walking in the hills. Member of the Scottish Megaraks. Sanity often questioned....
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