The 2 circles here, sit high on moorland on the Braes of Fowlis above the hamlet of Fowlis Wester.
We headed for a strange looking dark, brick ruin and found the circles.
The stones in both circles have either fallen/pushed or were originally boulder like, but the circles remain obvious and tight. The 9 stoned eastern circle, once had 12 stones and has a rocked cairn mound in the centre.
There is also an outlying monolith close to the circles, which stands upright and strong, contrasting with the low lying circles.
According to the Ancient Scotland website (see links) Aubrey Burl visited this area and wasn't too impressed - the writer suggested our Aub was having a bad day.
It is a strange site. The only thing you see on approach is the monolith and you only get the whole site when it is under your nose.
I felt it was well worth coming here, and we wanted to hang about longer, but the sun was down and I was probably hungry.
Grinsell notes that just west of the stone circles used to be the Moor of Ardoch Sithean. A sithean is a fairy knowe, or cairn. Clearly the fairies didn't hold much fear for the people who destroyed it.
(mentioned in Grinsell's 'Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain')
I cant get a direct link to the Fowlis Wester section. Go to 'megaliths' tab then Fowlis Wester is on the list if you have a close look. Good photos and info.
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Posted by Rhiannon
Posted by BigSweetie
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