Bachilton, Methven, Perthshire

Stone Circle (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – NO 0015 2411

Also Known as:

  1. Skelfie

Archaeology & History

Sometime between the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, a Perthshire architect by the name of  Thomas Ross was informed by a farm-worker called John Lawson who lived at Meckphen, that a stone circle had existed at Bachilton, but which had been destroyed when he was young.  The information was gained by the great Fred Coles (1910) during his extensive survey work in and around Perthshire, but all trace of the site had gone when he came to write about it.  He told us simply:

“Many years ago, several Stones of a Circle stood here, upon what appeared to be an artificial, and quite distinct mound which is still visible.  The Stones were, however, undermined and buried, so as to be out of the reach of the plough, close to their respective sites.”

All subsequent searches for the site have proved fruitless and the circle’s long gone.

References:

  1. Coles, F.R., “Report on stone circles in Perthshire principally Strathearn,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 45, 1911.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian