Kingside stone circle. Took us a while to locate as we forgot our map. There are 4 rectangular copses of conifers running West East. Circle between the first 2 from W. Park at Mayshiel farm. From the road follow the Herring Road to the first copse. Skirt the right hand side of the copse which takes you over the saddle. There are two piles of stone. One is long and wallish. Circle between. Quite lovely.
23/8/02- the complete circle
23/8/02- from the top of the southern field clearance pile (the north pile behind the circle- and yet more pylons behind that!)
23/8/02- the northern arc
NT 6263 6503 Friday 23/8/02
The mist swirls across the moorland, the pylons just to the north crackle And then there are these stones. A stone circle? A ritual enclosure? A hybrid ring cairn/stone circle? It really doesn’t matter. What does though is that this is a gorgeous little circle of 30 stones having a diameter of about 12 metres. Many of the stones are earthfast, but some still survive to about 40 cm. Most are set on edge. There is also a central stone- unusual for most Scottish circles. This site was apparently covered in field clearance stones in 1986, but were since carefully removed and theses two large piles sit to the north and south of this circle. At the gate to this field stands another concrete pillar that used to form part of the East Lothian District Council Archaeological Motor Trail- this area being Number 3 (Kingside Hill, Crow Stones, Nine Stanes and two mounds near here; nearby White Caste hill fort was Number 1 on the trail).
This circle is marked on the OS map as an ‘Enclosure’. It may have a centre stone and internal cairn (according to Burl). The circle consists of 30 small stones but only with a maximum height of 16 inches (according to Adam MacLeans “Standing Stones of the Lothians”).
An entry from Ancient Stones, an online database that covers most of the standing stones, stone circles and other stones found in South East Scotland. Each entry includes details, directions, photograph, folklore, parking and field notes on each location.
