
I think its a cairn as well.
I think its a cairn as well.
The last of the southern arc stones.
Stone 6 south arc
Southern arc stone 5
Southern arc stones 3 & 4.
Southern arc stone 2
Southern arc stone 1
The west stone – Cultoon.
The west stone looking south.
The west standing stone looking over to the top of the east standing stone.
It does look like a bit of a graveyard for stones.
Stone 6, looking north with the possible cairn behind.
What a place this would have been if they had erected the stones.
Stone 2 of the east arc.
Stone 1 of the east arc.
The southern stone looking west.
The southern standing stone of the circle.
View of the cairn from the circle with one of the circle stones in the foreground
The cairn which sits next to the circle
The main upright stone of the circle, all the rest are flat
After some activities not involving prehistory or distilleries (I know unbelievable) we headed to Cultoon Stone Circle. From Port Charlotte on the A847 take the minor road heading west and keep on it as it veers south leading straight to the stone circle.
The mound beside the site I’d say was a cairn with some kerbs still in place, one or two rabbit holes seem to hint at artificialness.
No need to describe the site as that has been done before, however what a weird place this is. Why did the people of the time cart all of these stones to the top of a wee hill only to put two up. Some theories are discussed in the Misc. post.
Visited 1/8/2018.
Visited 30.7.16
Directions:
Adjacent to a minor road leading north out of Portnahaven. A short distance south of Kilchiaran cup marked stone. The stones can be seen from the road to the west. Access is via the usual rusty metal gate.
This is a fine stone circle with good sized stones. This is a good place to build a stone circle with fine views out over the sea. Other than having to walk across boggy ground this is a very easy site to access. It is very unlikely you will have to share your visit with anyone else that’s for sure!
Islay is a nice Island with plenty to offer the visitor. Friendly people, lots of interesting places to see, some fine beaches and lots of wildlife. I am really pleased to have finally got here. It’s not the sort of place that many people get chance to visit so I do feel very fortunate. Some people I know think I am mad taking my summer holidays in such places but I know who the lucky one is. Give me an Islay over a Costa Del Sol every day of the week! :)
p.s. I agree with Merrick – that is definitely a cairn next to the stone circle.
Excavated by a Dr Eaun McKie, he confirms that the circle was abanoned before completion. The stoneholes of the circle were composed of two elipses with a midsummer/midwinter line of symmetry aligned with a mountain in N.Ireland.
From the mini-circle of Adilistry yesterday to this catering size mutha today. Both the scale and the setting of this circle are utterly breathtaking.
Set on the dome of a small hill with intermittent views down to the Atlantic for 180 degrees, with the strange knobbly mountain of Beinn Tart a’Mhill bearing down from the east, the sense of centrality and grandness is almost overpowering.
It seems to have originally been about 15 or 20 stones, from 5 to 8 or 9 feet tall. It’s 35 big paces across. Sadly, only two stones still stand (although greyweather’s field notes suggest some were never erected in the first place). Oddly, of the two that remain standing, facing each other east-west, the western seems to have been one of the very smallest.
While many lie fallen, some stones at the edge seem too wrongly proportioned to have been circle stones.
Strangely, a kerb of smaller stones – fist size to head size – runs between all the standing stones.
A hundred metres or so to the west, the main sea view, is a peculiar round barrow type mound. Though not marked as a cairn on the OS map the shape is certainly anomalous and eye-catching, and Greywether’s photo caption unequivocally calls it a cairn.
Far flung but well worth it. Imagining this place with all the stones up is really intense.
visited 16 June 05
A large elipse (41x33m) where construction seems to have been abandoned with the stone holes built and the stones in place but not erected.
Passionate about British Heritage
David Ross
Details of the excavations and a wee bit about the nearby mound.
Good set of photos from Isalyphile Armin Grewe