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Scotland
Faskally - PitlochryStone Circle
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| The Townsends live in the far left house and are very happy to give permission to view the circle when asked. All the other cottages are rented out as holiday homes. |
Posted by BigSweetie22nd January 2006ce |
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Thursday 1 May 2003 To me, the circle at Faskally cottages has a similar kind of feel to Tigh Na Ruaich and is sited in a fairly similar way. From memory (and my photos), the largest stone is split top-to-bottom and side-to-side across the middle and the part on the ‘inside’ of the circle is split in two front-to-back. The circle can be found to the north of Pitlochry, in a garden next to the cottages to the east of the A924, just before it bends left to meet the A9. Not having read about Faskally before visiting, we called at the house to the left of the cottages, mainly because it was the only place showing any sign of life. A friendly and helpful chap came to the door and I now guess was probably the Mr Townsend that Martin refers to on this site. (I make this assumption not least because he produced the report Martin mentioned and said very similar things about having the circle in the garden.) I (maybe wrongly) got the impression that he probably lives at the house & all the cottages are (now) holiday homes – he certainly got the archaeological report from the house. Whether he lives at the house or the cottage, he’s friendly & enthusiastic enough that it probably doesn’t really matter. If it’s holidaymakers in the cottage, I’m sure they’ll point you in his direction – I can imagine he might even brief them! This post appears as part of the weblog entry Callanish via Perthshire with surprise guest stones - Part 3
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Posted by Moth9th July 2003ce Edited 9th July 2003ce |
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Faskally Cottages Wednesday 8/8/01 5:55pm This ring is set in a well-tended garden next to some wee cottages ("Greengates"). I just got out of the car and was peering over the fence at the stones when the owner of the cottages appeared- a Mr. Ian Townsend- who stays at the end of Pitlochry as it happens!)- he asked if I was interested in the stone circle- indeed I was :). Mr. Townsned was a really nice guy who says it's fascinating to have such a circle in is garden, but admitted there wasn't as many visitors to the stones as there used to be which I thought was a bit of a shame. He's just come back from his cottage at the very end of the row with a cracking picture of the site which he took (and for me to keep) which shows the circle in spring time with snowdrops and crocuses in the middle of it. We chatted about other Perthshire sites including Croftmoraig, Lundin etc.- he told me he had met Dr. Margaret Stewart- the excavator of Lundin (amongst others) who had visited Faskally before she died. He also has a copy of the 1908 excavation report from the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquities bound in brown card for visitors to the site to read whilst having a look at the stones. The report has a great opening paragraph- "In a narrow strip of ground between the Highland Railway on the east and the great main road to the north on the west, is a garden, shielded from observation by a tall hedge on the roadside, and in it there are yet standing in situ the seven stones of this Circle. Never surely, was the pre-historic past brought so closely into contact with the steam power and motor traffic of the twentieth century. In addition to these more or less disturbing conditions, we are told that, during the most recent government survey, the men of the theodolite arrived at the conclusion that this little circle is really the centre of Scotland". There are six upright stones, well I use the term upright in the loosest possible sense of the word as one of the stones can only be about 20 to 30 cm tall! But the largest stone has a beautiful sloped top from west to east and has split into three huge chunks. Two other large stones with three small make up this circle of six, 21 foot in diameter, with the large stone to the north four foot outside the circle according to the 1908 survey. Was the north stone always the prominent one in this circle? Okay- so maybe this site doesn't have the quiet atmosphere of the nearby Clachan-an-Diridh, but it is a charming place and well worth a visit- I'm sure Mr. Townsend would be very happy to speak to other interested folk about the circle in his garden. From here it was a glorious early August evenings drive back to the Kavan across the moors with a soundtrack of Ganger. PS- Chris- this is definately a real site! (well- according to the excavation report etc). I found it in Burls "Stone Circles of the British Isles" as 'Faskally Cottages'. Directions Travelling through Pitlochry to the North on the A924, look out for the "Greengates" sign for cottages to let on the right hand side of the road. |
Posted by Martin 27th August 2001ce |
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This is an intriuging little site on the outskirts of Pitlochry village. Not mentioned by JC , it can be found on an OS map. It appears to be a classic four poster, which has been 'improved' by the addition of some smaller stones (to a total of about 7) in order to complete the arc. It can be found on the A924 heading north out of Pitlochry in the garden of Faskally Cottages. I wasn't able to gain access to the garden as no-one was at home and time was limited. The circle can be seen through the trees from the road. |
Posted by Chris17th October 2000ce |
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Stone Circles in Angus and PerthshireCool site for stones around here and good pics of the Faskally circle |
Posted by Martin 31st August 2001ce |
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