Colmeallie

Nearest town:
Laurencekirk (16km E)
OS reference:
NO565782
OS sheet:
44
Latitude:
56° 53' 35.24 N
Longitude:
2° 42' 50.78 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Colmeallie (Stone Circle) by drewbhoy

The cars behind were owned by the pheasant shooters. I’d experienced shooters at the Hill Of Edzell as well.

Image credit: drew/AMJ
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jan 11, 2025
Image of Colmeallie (Stone Circle) by drewbhoy

Every time I see a photo of the circle ‘gentle restoration’ enters my head.

Image credit: drew/AMJ
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jan 11, 2025
Image of Colmeallie (Stone Circle) by drewbhoy

Looking south east, the road sneaking into in the background.

Image credit: drew/AMJ
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jan 11, 2025
Image of Colmeallie (Stone Circle) by drewbhoy

I dread to think how many years since I’ve been here, well before I joined TMA.

Image credit: drew/AMJ
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jan 10, 2025
Image of Colmeallie (Stone Circle) by drewbhoy

Daylight just about holding on at the furthest south RSC.

Image credit: drew/AMJ
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jan 10, 2025
Image of Colmeallie (Stone Circle) by GLADMAN

Guess most people sometimes feel that the stones are trying to ‘tell you something’. Colmeallie ring couldn’t be more blatant here. Time to go. That-a-way.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jul 6, 2019
Image of Colmeallie (Stone Circle) by hamish

Two of the Stones at this remarkable site.

Image credit: Mike Murray
hamish
hamish May 8, 2006
Image of Colmeallie (Stone Circle) by hamish

Three more of the Stones, only 5 are left standing.

Image credit: Mike Murray
hamish
hamish May 8, 2006
Image of Colmeallie (Stone Circle) by hamish

Large fallen stone near center of the circle.

Image credit: Mike Murray
hamish
hamish May 8, 2006

Articles

Colmeallie

thelonious
thelonious Jan 29, 2012

28/01/2012 – Parked at NO 5666 7783. Space for a couple of cars at entrance to drive. No access problems. Short walk up drive to circle. Stones a bit jumbled but I liked the 3 big ones that were standing together. Nice views.

Colmeallie

nickbrand
nickbrand Oct 31, 2008

Update re access: the new owners (non-local) who moved in a couple of years ago have now put up signs down the road stating “No unauthorised vehicles beyond this point”, which I’m not sure is strictly kosher. Certainly access on foot is still covered under the Right to Roam legislation. I’m not recommending anyone breaking the law but these clowns are going to have to learn that the days of colonialism are over – and that the people of Scotland (and elsewhere) have the right to access sites which have been visited from time immemorial. Some local action is planned on this, stay tuned.

Colmeallie

hamish
hamish May 8, 2006

The people who own this farm are quite happy for folk to visit. Please leave your vehicle at the gate though.

Colmeallie

greywether
greywether Nov 2, 2005

This recumbent stone circle is well away from the rest of the pack but is certainly worth a visit.

The E flanker is still standing but its neighbour and the recumbent have fallen. Like many of the southern RSCs, the recumbent and flankers are joined to the ring cairn rather than the stone circle which sits on a wider radius. Two stones from the circle are still standing.

This site can be added to the list of stone circles which can be visited by the less abled. The access from the parking area is clear and, on this visit, the grass round the circle had been cut to allow closer access. Nice.

Visited 17 October 2005

Colmeallie

nickbrand
nickbrand Oct 29, 2002

From the A90 just north of Brechin take the B966 through Edzell, amile or so past the town there is a road marked “Glenesk – Tarfside” heading north (left side of the road). Take this and follow the road for several miles (be warned, it’s pretty narrow so watch for oncoming traffic!). As the glen opens out you’ll see a sign for Colmeallie, park where convenient at the foot here, so as not to block the entrance, and walk up to the circle, which is to the left of the track. The man who lives at the cottage here is helpful and there’s no problem viewing the circle.

The circle itself is pretty disrupted. Only five stones remain upright, though a drawing I’ve seen from the 1950’s showed 6 upright at that time. It sits on a mound, and on investigation appears to have been two concentric circles at one time. Many stones are now recumbent, and others have been utilised in nearby dykes... It’s in a pretty stunning location though, and worth a look. ‘Dowsing’, for those of the ley line persuasion, shows that there is a pretty strong ‘focus’ near the centre of the circle – this was demonstrated to me by the resident of the cottage, who had been shown how to do it by a previous visitor to the site!

Miscellaneous

Colmeallie
Stone Circle
Rhiannon
Rhiannon Sep 24, 2007

.. the most tangible prehistoric remains in the district are the “Stannin’ Stanes,” or, as they are more frequently termed, the Druidical circles of Colmeallie.

[..] Colmeallie seems a corruption of the Gaelic Kilmeallie, which means “the kirk or cell on a small eminence,” an idea which is corroborated by “the kirk shank,” “the kirk hill,” and “the kirk burn” – names which the hill on the north, and the site of the stones, and the neighbouring rivulet still bear;

[.. there are] from fifteen to twenty stones.. and with the exception of three, all are prostrated or mutilated.. many old people remember them being more entire than they are now; but the late tenant was one of too many who saw no use in going a little distance for building materials when he could get them at his door, however revered or valuable; and, as his Gothicism was either unknown to, or unheeded by his landlord, one stone after another disappeared in whole, or was blown to pieces, as circumstances required.

‘The history and traditions of the land of the Lindsays’ by Andrew Jervise (1853) – p87.

Topics

Public Access to Colmeallie Stone Circle 5
nickbrand
nickbrand
Jul 2010

Sites within 20km of Colmeallie

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