Upper Balfour

Nearest town:
Banchory (9km WSW)
OS reference:
NO78279597
OS sheets:
38, 45
Latitude:
57° 3' 15.47 N
Longitude:
2° 21' 29.76 W
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Sites within Upper Balfour

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Images

Image of Upper Balfour (Cairn(s)) by LesHamilton

This image is of the second ruined cairn, situated less that 100 metres southwest of Upper Balfour Ring Cairn.

Image credit: Les Hamilton
LesHamilton
LesHamilton May 12, 2013
Image of Upper Balfour (Cairn(s)) by LesHamilton

A slightly elevated view of Upper Balfour Ring Cairn, seen from the east, surrounded by burnt gorse scrub.

Image credit: Les Hamilton
LesHamilton
LesHamilton May 12, 2013

Articles

Upper Balfour

LesHamilton
LesHamilton May 12, 2013

Visited May 11, 2013

An area of rough gorse, almost due east of Kirkton of Durris, conceals the remains of a severely robbed ring-cairn lying 590 metres southwest of Upper Balfour farmhouse, within a field-system and cairnfield.

To access the Upper Balfour Ring Cairn, start from the village hall at Kirkton of Durris and continue up the road as it turns left. The road shortly merges into a woodland path which follows the edge of the adjacent field.

After about 200 metres, this path turns to the right, into the trees: at this point, be alert to pick up a narrow walkers’ path that branches to the left and continues parallel with the field boundary. Where the trees end, follow the field boundary that heads northeast to the gate at its far end.

A search for the cairn last year proved fruitless on account of the dense gorse. But since then there has clearly been a major burning event, and only the scorched main stems remain. Not only does this make the walking much easier, it is also now possible to actually see the cairn as you approach it.

The cairn is to be found in the region of gorse scrub lying to the right of the subsequent field. A good direction marker is the lone mature tree that stands near the east corner of this area.

The cairn is nowadays little more than a grassy mound, 18 metres across and about half a metre in height.

More information about this cairn is available at Canmore

A second even more ruinous cairn lies almost exactly 100 metres to the southwest, at NO 7821 9590.

Sites within 20km of Upper Balfour

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