Standing Stone: OS Grid Reference – NY 1118 9443
Also Known as:
- Site no.66950 (Canmore ID)
- Skipknowe
From junction 16 on the A74(M) turn off an go up the B7076 road, roughly parallel with the motorway, for about 2 miles, turning right – over the A74(M) – until you hit the T-junction by the lovely hamlet of Newton. At the T-junction turn right again and along down the road for just 300 yards or so. You’ll see the small Skip Cottage, almost overgrown by the tiny roadside on your right. Stop here and look into the field across the road. It’s right in front of you!
Archaeology & History
Despite the size and almost romantic setting of this large standing stone, I can find little by way of early descriptions or archaeological reports here. Nearly six feet tall with its long axis aligned east-west and in seeming isolation, I find it hard to believe that we have no other sites or relevant data here. Echoing the work by Alexander Thom (1990:2), Aubrey Burl (1993) makes mention of it as one in a possible “pair” of standing stones, with its companion being “18ft (5.5m) away…in roadside bank,” but this is debatable. This second stone seems as much a part of the old walling. On purely subjective grounds, it gave the impression of once playing a part in a stone circle — an opinion also held by the Scottish Royal Commission (1920) lads after their visit here in August, 1912. Does anyone know anything more about this place?
References:
- Burl, Aubrey, From Carnac to Callanish, Yale University Press 1993.
- Royal Commission on Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the County of Dumfries, HMSO: Edinburgh 1920.
- Thom, A., Thom, A.S. & Burl, Aubrey, Stone Rows and Standing Stones – volume 2, BAR 560: Oxford 1990.
© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian
