Go on the A91 through Alva, eastwards, and just before you go out of the town, note the small road on your left up to the graveyard. As you go into the graveyard, keep your eyes peeled on your left-hand side. You can’t really miss it!
Archaeology & History
Reported as “lost” or “destroyed” in many official reports, one of at least two standing stones that were reported in the Old Statistical Account of 1795 can still be found at the bottom of the graveyard, adjacent to the old holy well of St. Serf, at the edge of Alva town Very little has been written about it, and when it was mentioned in the OSA, the stones were only added in a foot note to the impressive stone cross on the outskirts of Alloa, saying:
“There are two stones resembling this one, in the neighbouring parish of Alva, at no great distance from the church, but not close to one another. They are both near the foot of the Ochils.”
A little person by its sideFrom the stone, looking NE
When some of the lads from the Scottish Royal Commission came here in July 1927, they could find no remains of any such standing stones and simply reported that they “no longer exist.” However, as visitors can plainly see, a tall upright standing stone still remains here, albeit repositioned by the good local people of Alva several decades ago. Standing more than seven-feet tall, the stone is very weather-worn on one side, with a plaque at the bottom.
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, HMSO: Edinburgh 1933.
From Alloa head east along the A907 road and park up at Morrison’s supermarket a half-mile on. From here, keep walking along the same road, but make sure you go on the dirt-track running parallel with the main road, and which runs alongside the field in which this monument is clearly visible. Just make sure you only visit it when the crops aren’t growing (between September through to April is OK).
Archaeology & History
This is a highly impressive monument, but I for one doubt that it has a wholly christian origin… The fact that a stone circle was on the same ridge totally visible a couple of hundred yards away, and a cluster of Bronze Age cairns immediately west, adds to my doubt; along with the sheer size of this thing trying to grab attention to itself. You’ll have to visit it yourself and see what I mean.
The stone was first described in the Old Statistical Account of the area in 1795, and it told:
“About a mile east of the town, there is a large upright stone, 7 feet 4 inches above the surface of the ground. It is three feet broad, and thought to be very deep in the Earth. The old people used to speak of the figure of a man on horseback, which they had seen on it. If any thing of that kind, or letters (as it is said), have been formerly observed, they are now totally effaced.”
However, in a footnote to this entry, it was said that,
“when the adjacent farm was enclosing, upwards of 20 years ago, a ditch was made close to the stone, when many human bones were discovered; which proves that a battle or skirmish had some time or other taken place near that spot; and probably some man of eminence was buried hard by, as it was a common practice of the Picts on such occasions. There are two stones resembling this one, in the neighbouring parish of Alva, at no great distance from the church, but not close to one another. They are both near the foot of the Ochils.”
It seems most probable that this great cross-carved monolith had some relationship to our heathen mythic history—an idea which has been put forward by others historians in bygone times. In Daniel Wilson’s (1851) huge work, he told us:
“On ground about half a mile to the east of the town of Alloa, called the Hawkhill, is the large upright block of sandstone sculptured with a cross which is represented in the annexed engraving. It measures ten and a quarter feet in height, though little more than seven feet are now visible above ground. A similar cross is cut on both sides of the stone, as is not uncommon with such simple memorials. During the progress of agricultural operations in the immediate vicinity of this ancient cross, in the spring of 1829, Mr. Robert Bald, C.E., an intelligent Scottish antiquary, obtained permission from the Earl of Mar to make some excavations around when, at about nine feet north from the monumental stone, a rude cist was found, constructed of unhewn sandstone, measuring only three feet in length, and at each end of the cover, on the under side, a simple cross was cut. The lines which formed the crosses were not rudely executed, but straight and uniform, and evidently finished with care, though the slab itself was unusually rude and amorphous. The cist lay east and west and contained nothing but human bones greatly decayed. Drawings of the cross and a plan of the ground, executed by Mr. Bald, are in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries. Here we possess a singularly interesting example of the union of Christian and Pagan sepulchral rites: the cist laid east and west, according to the early christian custom, yet constructed of the old circumscribed dimensions, and of the rude but durable materials in use for ages before the had superseded the aboriginal Pagan creeds.”
Old drawing of the site (after Wilson 1851)Hawk Hill Cross, looking north
A few years later there was another account of this cross published in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland (1889), echoing much of what Wilson described, telling of the discoveries of many human remains found hereby. And when the Royal Commission (1933) account of the place was written after their inspection team visited the site in 1925, they told:
“This slab…is set up on a knoll about 200 yards south of the main roadway between Alloa and Clackmannan and about midway between the site of the (Hawk Hill) cairn…and that of the (Hawk Hill) stone circle… It is packed round the base with fairly large stones and stands with its broad faces east and west. A cross of Celtic form is incised on both sides, the incisions being about half an inch in depth. On the east face the shaft is made to spring directly from a base, without the intervention of a basic line. The design on the west face is similar, but the shaft here has been almost entirely obliterated by weathering. The slab is 8 feet in height, 2 feet 7½ inches in width at the base, and 9 inches in thickness.”
Notice that the more recent accounts don’t mention the horse carving: an intriguing element which was however mentioned in some early local history works of the place. Indeed, some postulate that this may have Pictish origins. They may be right. As local historian T.C. Gordon (1937), told,
“that the old people of the parish could remember seeing on the soft surface of the stone the figure of a man on horseback.”
Cross on the east faceCross on the west face
On the day I visited this stone I couldn’t make out any carved horse, but it seemed that something may once have been carved near the bottom the western face…perhaps… One writer also suggested that the nearby place-name of Gaberston may have related to this stone cross, with the word literally meaning ‘The Pillar Stone of Brath (Brude),’ which as Mr Gordon said, thus provides “the link between the stone and (the Pictish leader) Brude, and this link is strengthened when we remember that the burn that runs through Alloa is called ‘the Brathy Burn.’”
The possible Pictish motifs of a horseman were mentioned again in a letter from the local County Planning Officer to the Alloa County Clerk in 1971, along with a recommendation that the cross be removed and placed into a museum to prevent further weathering and erosion. Thankfully this suggestion was not followed through and the cross remains where it belongs: in its position in the landscape to beguile and intrigue us over its hidden commemorative past. Long may it remain upon its hill.
A very impressive site indeed…
Folklore
Thought locally to have played a part on an alignment or ley line with a little-known Druid Stone by the roadside in Alloa, the Hawk Hill cairn, and Hawk Hill stone circle to its east. The historian T.C. Gordon (1937) told that the cross marked the site where the Picts fought against the Saxons, saying:
“We know that Finguine, son of Deleroith, died in that battle in 711 AD, and maybe Brude too. A stone cross still marks the place at Hawkhill.”
References:
Gordon, T. Crouther, A Short History of Alloa, Alloa Advertiser 1937.
Lothian, James, Alloa and its Environs, Alloa Advertiser 1861.
Miller, Peter, “Notices of the Standing Stones of Alloa and Clackmanan,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 23, 1889.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, HMSO: Edinburgh 1933.
Wilson, Daniel, The Archaeology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland, Sutherland & Knox: Edinburgh 1861.
Take the road from Fortingall into the Glen. About 4 miles down, past the farmhouse of Slatich, then Craigianie, watch carefully as you round the small bend in the road, where you’ll see a small standing stone on top of a rounded mound, right by the south side of the road, just over the fence. Go through the gate to enter the field less than 100 yards further on and walk back onto the hillock.
Archaeology & History
In this magnificent landscape down the longest of Scotland’s glens, standing atop of a knoll known as Tom a’ Mhoid, or “the moot hill” (Watson 1926), is this small standing stone about 4 feet tall which has long been ascribed as an important relic of the early christian period. They may be right – but it could as much be a more archaic monolith, onto which the carved crosses on either side of the stone were later etched, in the light of the myths of St. Adamnan whose name scatters this great glen and after the legend cited below was ascribed to him.
Close-up, showing large cross
The stone ‘cross’ stands atop of what at first sight seems a natural knoll; but all round it we find an excess of man-made remains and walling, all but constituting the hill itself. These are clearly visible on the aerial imagery of GoogleEarth. Antiquarian dogs here would be invaluable to ascertain the correct age and nature of the structures around this ‘cross’.
Faint cross near top of stone
Of the crosses carved onto the stone: the one on the southern face is a small faint one near the top of the upright; whilst the other is much larger and is easily visible, cutting right across the northern face of the monolith. They are clearly of differing styles and would seem to have been carved by different people, perhaps a few centuries apart. Curiously—as Marion Woolley pointed out—the smaller, fainter cross is carved above a ridge on the upright stone, mimicking the position of the stone on the knoll in its landscape setting. Whether this is just a coincidence, or has been done on purpose, we might never know.
In Duncan Fraser’s (1969) excellent local history work, he names the stone here Eonan’s Cross and he too strongly suspects “the stone itself was probably erected at least a thousand years earlier” than the coming of the saint, making this a christianized standing stone – which it certainly looks like. Mr Fraser said that,
“His cross stone, we can be fairly sure, was a Bronze Age standing stone long before it acquired its unusual cross.”
He may well be right…
Folklore
The mythic history of this cross-marked standing stone was told eloquently in one of Hilary Wheater’s (1981) fine short works. After giving a brief story of the tale of St. Adamnan, she went on to tell:
“A terrible plague swept through Scotland in the seventh century. It reached the Vale of Fortingall and so violent was its ravages that all the inhabitants were wiped out. Slowly the sickness began to infiltrate the Glen and in a panic the people of Glenlyon went to their preacher and beseeched him, “Eonan of the ruddy cheeks, rise and check the plague of thy people. Save us from the death and let it not come upon us east or west.”
“Adamnan rose to the occasion and gathered the people of the Glen to a hillock where he usually preached to them. In a house not forty yards away it is said that a child was already dying of ‘the Death.’
“There on the rock, with the people gathered round him, Adamnan prayed. When he was finished he raised his right arm, exhorted the devil body of the pestilence to come to him and, pointing to a large round rock lying on the ground, ordered the plague to enter it. A large circular hole appeared in the rock as the plague bored into it and Adamnan followed up this apparent miracle by the very sensible act of sending all the healthy people of the Glen up to the shielings until all signs of the pestilence disappeared…
“Thus were the people of the Glen saved from the plague. When they came back from their mountain retreat they erected a stone slab with two crosses on it to commemorate their deliverance. The rock itself they called Craig-diannaidh, the ‘rock of safety’, and the round stone with the hole through which the plague descended into the bowels of the Earth lies to this day at the side of the road near the stone slab.”
Adamnan’s Cross
The rocky slope immediately above the stone, on the other side of the road, was once the home of an old urisk who, sadly, long-since left the area – though his spirit can still be felt there. Accounts of many other supernatural creatures are found scattering this part of Glen Lyon…
References:
Barnett, T. Ratcliffe, The Road to Rannoch and the Summer Isles, Robert Grant: Edinburgh 1924.
Fraser, Duncan, Highland Perthshire, Standard Press: Montrose 1969.
Watson, W.J., The history of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland, Edinburgh 1926.
Wheater, Hilary, Aberfeldy to Glenlyon, Appin: Aberfeldy 1981.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Massive thanks to Marion—”I don’t have a clue where I am!”—Woolley, for getting us here….and for her photo of the faint cross, above.
Follow the directions to get to the Dunruchan B standing stone, on the slopes south of Craigneich. Once there, on the hillside further above you, you’ll see a large upright stone on the moor about 300 yards to the south, standing just below the rise of a small hillock. That’s it!
Archaeology & History
Fred Coles’ 1911 drawing
The second biggest of the Dunruchan monoliths is what Fred Coles (1911) described as “the Middle Stone,” or Dunruchan C. Standing just below the rise of a large natural mound of earth, obstructing any immediate view of the western hills, it too has a long upright shape with a pointed end to the stone, leaning at a considerable angle. The massive stone of Dunruchan A is clearly visible on the grassy cairn-scattered plain 543 yards to the east and the smaller Dunruchan B to the north on the slopes below. Dunruchan C was deemed as one of the central stones in this unlikely megalithic stone row by both Aubrey Burl (1993) and Alexander Thom (1990). Mr Coles’ description of the site told:
“This huge block…rugged and irregular…makes, from the extraordinary angle at which it leans over southwards, a surprisingly picturesque object amid the heather and the various small boulders that lie scattered about in its vicinity. Of oblong basal section, the Stone tapers sharply up to a small narrow edge, which is at present 9 feet 4 inches in vertical height above the grassy ledge surrounding the base. In girth it measures over 17 feet, and the slope of its upper surface is over 12 feet in length. Intervening undulations in the moorland prevent one seeing the two Stones which stand farther down south-wards. The main axis of its base is N. 18° W. by S. 18° E. ”
Dunruchan C, looking eastThe leaning pillar of Dunruchan C
Once you walk onto the mound above this stone, the landscape opens up all round you. The southernmost monoliths of the Dunruchan complex awake to the south; what seems to have been another significant boulder sits low down a few hundred yards to the west; the faint outline of a large man-made enclosure of some sort is another 100 yards west of that; and the rocky mountains west and north of here captures you with a relaxing exultation, typical of the Scottish hills. This arena is an absolute must for all megalith fanatics!
Folklore
According to an account in the Ordnance Survey Name Book of 1860, “these stones are believed to mark the graves or commemorate the death of Roman soldiers who fell in a battle fought here between the Romans and the Caledonians.”
References:
Burl, Aubrey, From Carnac to Callanish, Yale University Press 1993.
Cole, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles in Perthshire, Principally Strathearn,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 45, 1911.
Finlayson, Andrew, The Stones of Strathearn, One Tree Island: Comrie 2010.
Hunter, John, Chronicles of Strathearn, David Phillips: Crieff 1896.
Thom, A., Thom, A.S. & Burl, Aubrey, Stone Rows and Standing Stones – 2 volumes, BAR: Oxford 1990.
From Comrie town centre take the road south across Dalginross Bridge over the river, heading towards Braco, up the winding B827 road for 2-3 miles until you reach a small crossroads (you can easily miss it, so watch out!). Turn left and, about a mile on, 100 yards or so before Craigneich Farm (near its lovely standing stone), go up the track on your right up the hills. Follow the track up and through the gate, then walk straight uphill. A coupla hundred yards up you’ll see a large standing stone on the flat grassy plain to your left. That’s Dunruchan A.
Archaeology & History
Dunruchan A, looking east
This is a magnificent stone in a magnificent landscape, no doubt of considerable mythic importance to the people who lived and erected it several thousand years ago. It is the tallest of at least six standing stones to be seen on this section of moorland and stands out on the hillside from various angles as you walk the hills and glens around here: an element that was, no doubt, intended by those who built it. It’s probably a very old standing stone, more likely neolithic in origin than the generally ascribed Bronze Age.
The great stone in the skyDunruchan A, and its heathen onlooker
Standing on the flat grassy plain above Shillinghill and Craigneich, it is surrounded by many small cairns and, it would seem, was once accompanied by a cairn of its own if the scatter of small rocks around its base is anything to go by (though I’m not aware of any detailed excavations here by antiquarians, so this initial assumption may be wrong). Indeed, it seems the Dunruchan A stone stands in the middle of a scattered prehistoric cemetery if the many small overgrown piles of rocks are anything to go by: though I know of no detailed account of these many scatterings of stones (anyone know if they’re ancient, or field clearances?). However, the great megalith hunter Fred Coles (1911) did comment on how this and the other giant standing stones nearby may “commemorate burials,” but didn’t explore the idea any further.
Approaching twelve feet tall, it was Cole (1911) who described this huge standing stone in one of his essays on the Perthshire megaliths, telling:
“Dunruchan Moor stretches, at a general height of about 700 feet above sea-level, for nearly two miles towards the south and south-west of Craigneich. At its northern extremity, and distant from the Craigneich Stone about 610 yards, stands the first and the tallest of the group (A on the plan), a huge pointed mass of conglomerate schist, its apex being 11 feet 4 inches above ground. Its base is a somewhat regular oblong, measuring along the north and south faces 4 feet 2 inches, and across the edges 3 feet 10 inches and 2 feet 2 inches, the wider of these being on the east. Small and insignificant boulders lie loosely around it. The smoothest and most vertical side faces the north. The illustration (fig. 16A) was drawn from the east, with the Aberuchil Hills as a background.”
Fred Coles’ 1911 drawing
From this great stone, looking west across the moors the giant standing stone of Dunruchan C and its companions can be noticed just a few hundred yards away. A cup-marked stone can also be seen about 200 yards west of here. It has been suggested that this and the other standing stones were part of some curious megalithic stone row (Burl 1993; Thom 1990), but this seems most unlikely. Thom made no notes of the archaeoastronomical potential at Dunruchan A, nor its associates.
As a megalithic complex, this area is outstanding. The other large standing stones of Dunruchan D and Dunruchan E are on the moorland plain a few hundred yards to the southwest and must be visited if you explore the area. This is serious megalith country!
Folklore
According to an account in the Ordnance Survey Name Book of 1860, “these stones are believed to mark the graves or commemorate the death of Roman soldiers who fell in a battle fought here between the Romans and the Caledonians.”
References:
Burl, Aubrey, From Carnac to Callanish, Yale University Press 1993.
Cole, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles in Perthshire, Principally Strathearn,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 45, 1911.
Finlayson, Andrew, The Stones of Strathearn, One Tree Island: Comrie 2010.
Hunter, John, Chronicles of Strathearn, David Phillips: Crieff 1896.
Thom, A., Thom, A.S. & Burl, Aubrey, Stone Rows and Standing Stones – 2 volumes, BAR: Oxford 1990.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Many thanks to Paul Hornby for use of his photos!
Stone Circle (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NS 906 925
Archaeology & History
Clump of trees near the site of the olde circle…
This is another megalithic ring that appears to have been destroyed, sometime around 1923. It was one of a series of very important Bronze Age monuments that could once be seen along the ridge of Hawk Hill on the eastern outskirts of Alloa. A series of important prehistoric tombs scattered the area, and a tall early medieval cross was erected near the site to try christianize this important heathen arena. Sadly, we have few details available of the circle itself. The Royal Commission (1933) report simply said of it:
“This circle occupied a site immediately behind the lodge at the eastern extremity of the same (ridge) as the cairn (on Hawk Hill). It was, we are informed, entirely removed about ten years ago.”
In the cultivated field there is a curious circular clump of trees which I thought might harbour some of the fallen monoliths, but a scattering of overgrown stones within them did not have that prehistoric pedigree about them. Perhaps better luck might be had in the trees at the end of the field… The tall Hawk Hill Cross can be seen just a couple of hundred yards or so immediately to the west.
References:
Royal Commission on Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, HMSO: Edinburgh 1933.
Virtually nothing is known of a stone circle that was described in the 18th century old Statistical Account of Scotland, where a ring of stones was seen “in the parks of Gleneagles.” Its exact whereabouts remains unknown and the grid-reference given for the circle is an approximation. The writer told that this was “supposed to have been places of Druidical worship,” and it is mentioned alongside the megalithic sites at nearby Sheriffmuir and the Glebe.
The circle is mentioned without further details on the Canmore website. A number of stones above St. Mungo’s Well looked promising when I was bimbling in the area the other week — and as the landscape levels out above the well towards Glen Devon, we have a promising panorama, but there was nothing there. It would be good to have a team of us bimbling round here to see what could be found. However, the site may well have been destroyed. Any further information about this site would be hugely welcome!
References:
Sinclair, John, The Statistical Account of Scotland, 1791-1799 – volume 3, EP: Wakefield 1979.
Along the A9 dual carriageway between Blackford and Auchterarder, take the A823 road south, up Glen Eagles towards Pool of Muckhart and Dunfermline. Less than 100 yards up the road, turn immediately right and go past the standing stone of Gleneagles B for a coupla hundred yards or so, where there’s a left turn (down to Peterhead Farm). Stop here and look into the field in front of you. You can’t really miss it!
Archaeology & History
Gleneagles A stone, looking west
This short standing stone, more than 3ft tall, has an elegance about it which megalith lovers alone will understand! Maybe it’s the setting; maybe the feel of the land; or maybe something else. I dunno… On my first visit to the site, Nature was wearing a grey overcast cloak, but the site and I didn’t seem to care; and although the view from here doesn’t have the same grandeur of Glen Eagles to view as its companion stone a few hundred yards to the east might have, there felt a greater welcoming at this smaller stone. Odd, considering this monolith had been knocked over and re-positioned by the farmer in the not-too-distant past. Anyway…less of this subjective nonsense of feelings from the landscape and megaliths! Utter drivel all of it!
The earliest measured account of the stone is to be found in Mr Hutchison’s (1893) essay, where he notes this and its companion close by, giving us the dimensions of this monolith:
“This (stone) is roughly columnar in shape, but wider at the base than above. Its height is 3ft above ground; circumference at base 6ft. 5in., diminishing to 4ft. 2in at the top. It is of metamorphic schist. The line of direction between these two gives a horizontal angle of 260°.”
Since that day, in the mass of archaeology essays that have been scribed, this smoothed upright gets only a minimal description. Charles Calder’s (1947) account is typical, saying simply that it is,
“Somewhat cylindrical in form with a girth of 7 feet at the base, it rises with a decided tilt towards the west to a height of 3 feet 10 inches above ground-level.”
The stone fares better in Andrew Finlayson’s (2010) fine local survey of megalithic ruins, where he points out that this and its compatriot stone Gleneagles B, are in an alignment with the fallen Boat Stone and the upright White Stone, a few miles to the southwest. This line works on 1:50,000 map, but when transferred to larger-scale surveys, the alignment misses each outlying site by 20-30 yards here and there.
Chambered Cairn (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NN 830 127
Archaeology & History
References to this site are few and far between. I wandered past the place the other day on my way back from the megaliths of Dunruchan and Comrie without knowing anything about the place; but was, for some reason, drawn up the grassy hill slope towards the forestry plantation, where the scattered old walling implied (to me at least) the presence of some old prehistoric ruin… But as the daylight hours were fading, I had to head for home, wondering what it was that was pulling my nose to this place I’d never visited before.
The following day when I was searching for information about the prehistoric archaeology of the area, I came across Audrey Henshall’s (1972) description of some giant cairns that once stood here, upon the hilltop – exactly where my nose had led me! Sadly however, they have been all-but destroyed.
At least two prominent prehistoric cairns were to be found in relative proximity to each other hereby, each with their own name. The site was first described in A. Gordon’s 1726 work, Itinerarium Septentrionale, where he wrote the following:
“On the hill above the moor are two great heaps of stones, the one called Cairnwochel, the other Cairnlee: the former of these is the greatest curiosity of its kind that I ever met with; the quantity of great rough stones lying above one another almost surpasses belief, which made me have the curiosity to measure it, and I found the whole heap to be about 182 feet in length, 30 in sloping height, and 45 in breadth at the bottom. That at Cairnlea is not near so considerable as the former.”
Nearer to the end of the 18th century, Cairnwochel was mentioned again – this time in the Old Statistical Account (1793), where a description was given of some dig into the giant cairn, to see what lay beneath the mass of rocks. The report told that,
“there was found a stone coffin, in which there was a skeleton 7 feet long. The cairn lay from north to south and the coffin was nearly in the middle of it, with the head to the east. Most of the stones have been carried away to inclose the neighbouring farms; but the coffin, with a few large stones around it, has, by the order of Sir William Stirling, been preserved.”
When Miss Henshall explored the site in the 1960s, she found very little left of this once superb tomb, simply, “the only sign of any structure (were) a few laid stones on its S side, possibly part of a revetting wall-face.”
The sheer size of the cairn implies that it was probably Neolithic in origin (its description reminded me of the King’s and Queen’s Cairns near Skipton, Yorkshire). We have hardly any information about the nearby Cairnlea site. The intrusion of the forestry commission here has probably covered over a number of other important Neolithic and Bronze Age remains, but if anyone has further information on this site it would be hugely welcome.
References:
Henshall, Audrey, The Chambered Tombs of Scotland – volume 2, Edinburgh University Press 1972.
Take the B824 road that runs between Dunblane and Doune and, whichever direction you’re coming from, watch out for the large statue of David Stirling by the roadside (y’ can’t really miss it!). Stop here. Then, walk along the dirt-track into the field by the side of the statue, keeping your eyes peeled 50 yards along, for the upright stones in the field on your right, at the top of the brow of the hill.
Archaeology & History
Glenhead Farm standing stones
A few hundred yards south of the large Glenhead Standing Stone, we come across this curious small row of three reasonably large standing stones which — the more you look at them — give the distinct impression that they may be the remains of a large prehistoric tomb. But archaeology records are silent on this matter and we must contend with what we can see. At the northernmost end of the row, a fourth stone lays amongst the vegetation: it may have once stood alone, or maybe been snapped from its fellow monolith. 20 yards south is a large mass of stone; perhaps from an old building, perhaps cairn spoil (does anyone know?)
The local historian Moray Mackay (1984) thought that the line of stones here were once a part of something larger, saying:
“Originally it was probably a circle of six stones, with a seventh in the middle, and this central stone can still be identified by its flat top on which are the mysterious and well known cup-marks, much weathered but plainly visible. Close to the site, urns and stone hammers were unearthed last century.”
Glenhead stone row, looking north
Of the three remaining upright stones, it is the central one which has the cup-markings visible on its top and side (Allen 1882), with a lovely covering of almost luminous lichen giving it extra effect! (a separate TNA Site Entry for the cup-marked stone will be written in due course)
The famous astroarchaeologist Alexander Thom and his son (1990) described the place as,
“A three stone alignment showing about 33° N declination in one direction and 31° S in the other, but the azimuth comes from the stones only and so cannot be accurate. Perhaps the line is lunar to the hill in the SW…”
In Thom’s (1967) earlier work he posited that the alignment may relate to the rising of the star Capella around 1760 BC, but this is untrue. Thom’s error however, was not of his making, but due to the false dates that archaeologists ascribed to megalithic ruins at the time – dates which Thom used in his research, believing that the archaeological fraternity would know what they were talking about! In their collaborated text, Aubrey Burl added how,
“these stones stand on a hill summit at 360ft (110m) OD. The row is on a north-facing slope. Three stones stand. A fourth, prostrate, 6ft 6 in (2m) long, lies against the NE pillar. The row has a NNE-SSW axis. The northernmost stone is 3ft 6in high, the centre 4ft, and the SSW, characteristically the tallest, 6ft 6in… The line is about 27 feet (8.3m) long. The central stone has 23 cupmarks on its top and 4 more on its western side.”
…to be continued…
References:
Allen, J. Romilly, “Notes on some Undescribed Stones with some Cup-Markings in Scotland,” in PSAS 16, 1882.
Burl, Aubrey, From Carnac to Callanish, Yale University Press 1993.
