Old Bourtreebush

Also known as:
Aquhorthies South and Auld Bourtreebush
Nearest town:
Stonehaven (10km S)
OS reference:
NO90369609
OS sheets:
38, 45
Latitude:
57° 3' 20.83 N
Longitude:
2° 9' 32.19 W
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Image of Old Bourtreebush (Stone Circle) by greywether

Old Bourtreebush

Looking W and showing the four remaining upright stones.

In the foreground to the left (not too clear) is a large stone which has been suggested as a recumbent.

If so it would be pretty well due E, but then these Kincardineshire RSCs never did follow the rules!

greywether
greywether Apr 5, 2005
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Articles

Old Bourtreebush

LesHamilton
LesHamilton Jan 5, 2014
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Visited January 5, 2014

This stone circle stands on a low mound/cairn in a field, some 200 metres west of Old Bourtreebush House. For long a dilapidated ruin where one could conveniently park, the Old Bourtreebush farm buildings were totally renovated during 2013 into a rather luxurious homestead. Rather than invade its privacy, I parked up on a cul-de-sac just to the south of Bruntland Road in Portlethen (this road used to lead to Old Bourtreebush in the days before the dual carriageway severed it).

It's now a 20 minute walk to the stone circle: follow Bruntland Road to the dual carriageway, cross with care, and walk 50 metres south to pick up the metalled road signposted to Durris. 300 metres on, take the sharp turn on the right, and after another 200 metres, just short of Old Bourtreebush, a new farm track leads left across the stream to join the existing path that heads north along the field boundary. Cross the gate into the field to the north and head west by the field margin to the now-evident stone circle: then cross the tumbledown dyke to access it.

In summer this field often contains cows and calves which often enjoy relaxing in and around the circle. At this time of the year, the field is generally livestock-free.

Old Bourtreebush Stone Circle comprises four large upright orthostats which are visible from afar, as well as a number of additional large—but sadly now fallen—stones. The tallest upright stands just a shade under three metres high. One of these large stones is square and blocky, but current opinion is that this is not a recumbent stone circle.

See Canmore.

Then it was off to visit the nearby Aquhorthies stone circle too.

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Old Bourtreebush

greywether
greywether Sep 13, 2004
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Nice site with some very big stones but difficult to know what to make of it. The stone on the E that has been claimed as a recumbent could just be another of the large stones which has fallen.

I spent longer here than I probably should have trying to mentally reconstruct this site. Good fun though.

Visited 14 March 2005

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Old Bourtreebush

a23
a23 Aug 26, 2001
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Take a R off the A90 onto farm track just after the Portlethen junction. Park at the abandoned farmstead and head over the fields to the stones, which are obvious on the gently sloping hillside. The first circle you come to is Auld Bourtreebush – a ruined but rugged circle. The stones are large and of reddish quartz – fascinating feelings of desolation and despair hit me walking around the stones. Heading on E the circle of Auchquhorthies is easily visible, and reached by walking along the field edges plus a bit of barbed wire crossing. The stones are again of a good size and surrounded by what appears to be a ring of smaller stones. Our visit to this site was cut short as the cows which were stubbornly surrounding the stones, and making no sign of being frightened by us, got a lot more assertive when their bull arrived – unfortunately the adjacent field through which we had to leave also contained a bull (whom we hadn't noticed on our approach) and some nifty footwork was required! As we beat our escape the 2 bulls bellowed at each other – but whether in emnity or rejoicing at repelling the human invaders, I dunno...

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