Boreland

Nearest town:
Newton Stewart (4km SSE)
OS reference:
NX405690
OS sheet:
83
Latitude:
54° 59' 23.31 N
Longitude:
4° 29' 35.85 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Boreland (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Looking from the rear of the long cairn

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 3, 2010
Image of Boreland (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

The facade... looking from the cairn.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 3, 2010
Image of Boreland (Chambered Cairn) by GLADMAN

Almost head on, showing the remaining facade stones....

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 3, 2010
Image of Boreland (Chambered Cairn) by greywether

From the NE.

The cairn is about 25m long aligned facing the SE. Unusually far round the compass for a Clyde cairn – if that is what it is.

greywether
greywether May 18, 2004

Articles

Boreland

T
tomatoman Aug 14, 2019

We visited Knockman Wood yesterday in fine weather, doing a complete tour including the Boreland Cairn. The cairn remains undisturbed and clearly work has been done to keep the bracken growth under control, making the cairn easily approached.
The excellent archaeology conducted at the other end of the reserve a few years ago to properly interpret the 18C settlements is now largely obscured by natural regrowth leaving us with interpretation boards to summarise their story. Work all administered by the excellent Creetown Community Trust.

Boreland

GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 4, 2010

Sitting within Knockman Wood, to the north of Newton Stewart/Minnigaff, this is a surprisingly well preserved long cairn in attractive surroundings, set in a clearing between forestry to the west and trees of a deciduous variety to the east. Indeed, notices displayed within the car park highlight that restoration of the latter is now official policy. Right on!

As Greywether notes, no chambers are currently visible – hence the state of preservation – but any initial disappointment is more than offset by the remains of a facade featuring two substantial orthostats. The lichen encrusted cairn material exudes time immemorial, this, together with the late afternoon / evening sunshine and silence, combining to produce a first rate vibe. Hey, I like this place. The first long cairn of the tour bodes well.

Access is straight forward, if a bit of a plod from the Knockman Wood car park. Veer immediately to the left, past a gate, and follow the initially dreary forestry track, keeping left at any intersections. Assuming you find yourself climbing gently above and to the left of a small loch, you are literally on the right track and the monument will eventually materialise before you.

One further point relevant to any one who may be contemplating being around ‘after hours’, is that the gates at the entrance to the car park access track are closed – but not locked – during hours of darkness.

Boreland

greywether
greywether May 18, 2004

I’ve put this down as a chambered cairn even although no chambers are visible on account of its having a facade (quite impressive) and stones that look like portal stones. The chamber(s) await discovery.

I like my cairns naked and stoney not covered in grass so this gets big points on that count also. Glad to see removed, since my last visit, the “traffic cone cairn” which someone must have thought looked like a smart design addition on top of the cairn.

Two cheers also for the Forestry Commission who have left the cairn resonably open amid the plantation allowing some idea of the views it once had. Sadly though, those to the SE over the cairn entrance just glimpsing Wigton Bay are now obscured.

It sits in high ground above the River Cree and the wide Penkill Burn broadly facing their confluence and amongst a number of (currently) their tributary streams.

More detail in the photo captions.

Easy to get to. On a waymarked forestry walk. Follow the forestry/Knockman Wood signs from Newton Stewart. Gentle uphill walk. One gate.

Visited 2 May 2004

Miscellaneous

Boreland
Chambered Cairn
markj99
markj99 May 28, 2021

Directions to Boreland Cairn: Take the Minnigaff road on the E side of the Cree Bridge in Newton Stewart. After c. 0.5 mile there is a L turn signed for Wood of Cree. Follow this narrow lane past Minnigaff Church for c. 0.6 mile to reach Boreland Lodge, a small hamlet at the foot of Boreland Wood. There is a R turn signed for Knockman Wood through a white gate at Boreland Lodge cottage. After c. 0.25 mile there is a car park where a circular path through the woods starts. Take the L fork and go straight on for c. 1.25 miles on the path to reach Boreland Cairn on the L of the path in a wide clearing.

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