Auchterhouse

Nearest town:
Dundee (10km SE)
OS reference:
NO356389
OS sheet:
54
Latitude:
56° 32' 15.56 N
Longitude:
3° 2' 50.25 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Auchterhouse (Stone Circle) by nickbrand

Looking south across the site of the circle (almost obscured by heather)

nickbrand
nickbrand Mar 26, 2004
Image of Auchterhouse (Stone Circle) by nickbrand

The most northerly stone on the eastern arc, others in the distance

nickbrand
nickbrand Jan 20, 2004

Articles

Auchterhouse

nickbrand
nickbrand Mar 26, 2004

Revisited today, glorious sunny afternoon, so I have deleted a lot of the old misty photos and added some which show the overall layout of the site a bit better. However, the heather’s starting to grow again so it’s disappearing fast....

George has been doing some digging : he talked to a gent from the local history group, who came across the site 4 years ago. They contacted Liz Thoms from the local museum, but as far as they know she never visited the site. As far as is known however, no local ‘built’ this and it’s looking as if it is another true rediscovery.

Auchterhouse

nickbrand
nickbrand Jan 20, 2004

I received an e-mail last night from George Currie, one of the Scottish Megaraks with a habit of turning up relatively unknown sites. In part it read “the possibility of a stone circle in the seedlees might be of interest . i noticed it last summer and thought it landscaped a la “cuddy stanes” but had another look today and i’m not so sure . anyway it’s near the short cist in auchterhouse approx 3560 3888 . there are 5 stones in heather 40 metres in diameter , a path goes round them hence the landscaping effect. anyone wanting to have a look (it’s nearly yer backies nick) park in the layby just after the double gates just west of the 234m height mark on the map, walk back to the stile on the bend cross field to the N.W. over the rise and the stones are due south of the pylon which is about 150 yds away”

Couldn’t resist that as I hadn’t been out for ages, so off I set this morning into what was an extremely dreich day. His instructions are spot on except it’s NE not NW, and I walked past the site initially trying to find the pylon in the mist...

It’s definitely the remains of a circle, I estimate probably 12 stones originally, of which one solitary one to the west survives, along with 4 on the eastern arc. None of them terribly tall, but it sits in a lovely little natural amphitheatre. The photographs are terrible, the mist was very thick, and I’ll try to get back on a sunny day to see it in a better light. A great atmosphere though even in the mist and drizzle, and only a short distance away from the Balkello stone.

Miscellaneous

Auchterhouse
Stone Circle
wideford
wideford Jan 21, 2004

Did a little digging on the RCAHMS website and the only stone circle listed in Auchterhouse parish is Templelands at NO3536, but it does say that it was removed during railroad excavations. It is an odd coincidence that the entry refers one to the Templelands cists at NO357361 and the circle on TMA as Auchterhouse is in such close proximity to the BalKello cists. So my guess is that when the Templemeads stone circle was removed it was brought here and re-erected in a similar setting to the original. Or not.

Topics

old circle found ? 3
wideford
wideford
Jan 2004

Sites within 20km of Auchterhouse

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