Monday 3/5/04
Driving up a dusty and hot track I can see the orange pipeline marker sticking out of the hedge- apparently where the remains of this possible stone circle were first discovered in 1994. There's a large tree next to the hedge and sure enough, there are three large sandstone slabs and many large stones at the base. I climb up the gate that overlooks the field and check around the pipeline marker, but all clear of stones, so I guess these must be them! The field next to the fence has been meticulously cleared of any stone remains. The large slabs are loose in the ground and lying horizontally, as are the large stones. I check all of them, but no marks apart from possible plough scrapes.
(Of single stone pic)This is a small stone standing in it's original location more or less due south of the Ormiston Hall Circle remains,(Napiers Folly).Could it have been part of the original formation? I looked around but found nothing else. To visit it, pass the Ormiston circle remains and take the obvious track to the left through the large green gate into the woods. The stone is very close on the right. Farther on up the track there's a turning to the right, fairly obvious, if you follow it there's a small pit to the left of the path, (just beyond an old, long dried up water course), which to me resembles a small quarry. Is this where the stone came from? Total conjecture on my part but the stones came from somewhere!
The Ormiston Yew is close by here too,well worth a visit if you're in the area. Behind the remains of Ormiston hall.
I was looking through old maps of this area and found a reference to this structure.
The map printed in 1802 states that it is Napiers Folly .
The map can be found at http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/map/early/629.html
From the RCAHMS CANMORE site;
'A sandstone slab, possibly indicative of the remains of a stone burial cist, or a destroyed stone circle' was noted by GUARD in 1994 when field-walking the route to be taken by the Pathhead to Gladsmuir gas transmission pipeline. 'The slab was lying loose within the topsoil and thus did not appear to be in its original position.