BigSweetie | Blog

This is a very, very sad site. As if a stone circle being reduced to a single remaining standing stone wasn't bad enough, a tip and quarry have sprung up beside it.

The site originally consisted of a large natural mound o sand and gravel, on top of which, at the western edge (ie closest to the road), was a circle of stones. When the mound was excavated for gravel, several cists containing human remains were found, and also a stone hammer which is now in the National Museum. This quarrying has left little of the mound, the remains of which stand at the top of the bank which rises beside the main road.

CANMORE describes the standing stone as surmounting the summit of the ridge, which should make it just visible from the road, or at the very least from halfway up the bank. CANMORE also mentions that the ridge had been quarried away to within 2m of the stone - that was in 1975. The stone has now fallen, and is half-buried by sand and mud. The remains of the mound seem to be even smaller than described by CANMORE, and it's surely only a matter of time before the mound is destroyed altogether, and the stone thrown to one side. I will be contacting the RCAHMS about this site, in a bid to stop any further damage to the site.

Directions - head east from Aberfeldy on the A827, passing the distillery on your right. Approximately a mile and a half further on is the track up to Cultullich farm, and the large chain-link gates into Cultullich Tip. There's space to park carefully here. Walk along the grass verge beside the main road in the direction you were heading in, until you are level with the highest point of the ridge. Climb over the barbed wire fence here, and climb up the bank. The stone lies on the highest point of the ridge.

Directions - head N from Perth on the A9, and take the A827 (sign-posted Aberfeldy) at the Ballinluig junction. After about 5km you'll come to a junction having just crossed a bridge - turn right here (still sign-posted A827 Aberfeldy). Approximately 400m along this road you'll see a small muddy layby under the trees on the right-hand side of the road - park here. Walk on maybe 50m further towards Grandtully, and you'll see a wall seperating two fields across the road. If you look even further beyond this field, over the old railway line to the slope in the distance, you should see a house on the right, with another wall to the left of it. If you walk along the road until you're in line with the wall in the distance on the hill, then you'll see a telegraph pole close to the wall next to the road, and to the right of the closest field wall - this is the easiest place to cross into the field, as the wall has "footholds", the wire of the fence on top of it can be pushed down easily, and you have the telegraph pole to lean against. Once in the field, walk to the edge of the field (left) with the field wall on your left, and continue up towards the old railway line. After about 150m you'll be able to see the stone over the wall in the field to your left. There's a gate at the bottom of the field that gives you access into the stone's field.

This is a cracking wee stone which sits close to the old railway embankment, at the bottom of a field on the haugh of Grandtully. The stone is 1.4m tall, and approximately 1.0m wide and 0.5m thick at the base, rising to a point. It has thick veins of sparkly white quartz running through it.

Fred Coles was told in 1908 by "two aged residents in the immediate vicinity" that there used to be a second stone close by this stone.

I tried again to locate this circle today, and once again failed - perhaps! There's a stone standing in the centre of Kenmore golf course which looks suspiciously like one of the stones drawn by Fred Coles in 1910, and it's in the right general area to fit his description. The golfers I spoke to didn't know anything about the stone, and the clubhouse was shut, so I'm planning to write to the owners and ask if the stone has always been there, and if anyone knows anything about it.

This barrow, topped with tall thin conifers, is very visible from the road. The barrow was excavated in 1964, and found to be the final stage in a series of monuments. At its heart were four cremations (dated to c.2860 BCE) in a rectangular stone enclosure, and two ramped stone or wooden post holes. The cremations and holes were inside a penannular ring-cairn, over which the turf and stone barrow were built. On top of the barrow is a standing stone, under which a fifth cremation was found (dated to c.2270 BCE).

The perimeter of the barrow was originally bounded by a dry-stone kerb, but this has now been confused by ploughing and field clearance. On the south side of the barrow is a large square recumbent stone which isn't mentioned in the CANMORE report, and so may also be field clearance.

Directions - head N on the A9 from Perth, turning off onto the A827 for Aberfeldy at the Ballinluig junction. After approximately 5km you should see the barrow on your left at the edge of a field - it's quite hard to miss. There's a gate next to it giving access to the field, and there's space to park in here on a muddy area before the field proper. If it looks too muddy to get out again, continue on another 10m or so around the corner, and there is another gate with space for one car on the tarmac in front of it (just before you go onto the bridge).

I tried (and failed!) to find these stones today. My mistake was to only read the CANMORE entry, and not download the PSAS report by Fred Coles. CANMORE only quotes a footnote by Coles in which he describes information given to him about four "'great stones' close to Comrie Bridge" - he dismisses these as just boulders. But it wasn't these that he was describing as a circle of 5 stones - the circle is apparently a mile and a furlong south of Comrie Castle (which is next to Comrie Bridge). So I was looking in the wrong area today (as presumably were the RCAHMS, given the bit they quote), but I shall return with the PSAS description soon and see what I can find.

As anyone who's familiar with the Glen Lyon road through Coille Dhubh will know, there are a lot of lumps of rock beside the road. One of them may well be the "tall upright Clach Taghairm nan Cat" described by Archie McKerracher, but I couldn't be sure. I will try to find out his source for the story, and see if the present road was always the route into Glen Lyon, and then return for another look.

I saw this one on CANMORE when I was compiling my definitive list of Perthshire stones, and they had it down as a cup-marked rock with a possible stone circle:

http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/canmore/details_gis?inumlink=25168

Well there's no possible about it, this is definitely a circle! The stone at the centre measures 1.7m x 2.0m across it's top, and is between 0.7m and 0.9m high, depending which end you measure at. The upper surface is profusely decorated with many weathered cup-marks. CANMORE says at least 28, but I could only count 15 or 16 clearly.

Around this stone is a ring of 10 stones, with a circle diameter of about 18m (I was measuring with my feet, so it's not exact!). These stones appear to be equally-spaced from each other at a distance of about 4m. There are a few other stones lying about which may or may not have formed part of the circle, but it's difficult to tell exactly what's what as there are trees growing all over the place (which is what you'd expect in a forestry plantation I suppose), and the stones have a considerable amount of moss and grass on them. Nevertheless, this site is still well worth a visit, as it has a good feel to it.

Directions - Head N on the A9 from Perth, and take the Pitlochry turn-off (this is the easiest way to ensure you don't miss the smaller turn-off further up). Drive straight on through Pitlochry, past the circle at Faskally Cottages to where the A924 becomes the B8019. Turn left at Garry Bridge (for Loch Tummmel & Kinloch Rannoch) and follow the B8019 west to Tummel Bridge. Instead of crossing the river at Tummel Bridge, stay heading W on the N bank of the Tummel, and take the next turn to your right, following the edge of the Tummel Forest. After approximately 2.0km is a track to the left which passes by the white cottage of Over Bohespic. Park down by the road here, making sure to leave enough room for people to get in and out. Walk up the forestry track past the cottage, and climb over the locked gate. Keep following the track up until it forks, and take the right hand track. About 200m along here you'll notice that the tall, thick pines of the plantation give way to smaller, thinner pines. It's just after this change that you can see the huge cup-marked stone down to your right. A path of sorts has been cleared down to it, so it's easy enough to spot. I was on my bike, so I'm not sure how long the walk would be, but I'd guess 20 mins to half an hour from Over Bohespic.