The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Lang Cairn

Chambered Tomb

Fieldnotes

This is a favourite of mine.

I remember the joy when I first visited it. I knew it only as a dot on a map and was delighted to find a near-perfect unexcavated Clyde cairn of massive length and in a fair state of preservation.

The forecourt was particularly impressive at that time with its facade of orthostats and dry-stone walling.

Sadly, time has taken its toll. The facade is not as impressive as it was and the tallest orthostat (re-erected in the 60s) has fallen. All of this has happened in the last 10 years or so. Not through willful damage as far as I can see but merely as a result of vegetation now taking hold and weakening the structure.

Despite all that, it is still the best example of its type out of a number of Clyde cairns in the area.

Landscape enthusiasts are warned that it is closely surrounded on two sides by forestry.

I've updated the photos but kept two of the earlier ones on for comparison. They are from undated slides but probably from the mid 90s. For more detail, see the photo captions.

Directions

The first challenge is to navigate the twists and turns on the road from Croftamie on the A809 to Wester Cameron Farm (N of the site). Park where you can then walk E then S down the forest track.

Once in the forest, there are a number of rides to the right which give access to the moor. The one to take is the FIRST of the two (narrower and slightly obscured) close together at the end of the long straight rise in the track. This brings you out at the corner of the forest near the cairn.

Visited 10 March 2004
greywether Posted by greywether
19th March 2004ce

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