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Laganabeastie Cairns can be found adjacent to the single track road to Lagafater Lodge, a large isolated holiday house in Dumfries and Galloway. The East & West cairns are located only 50 yards apart on the edge of moorland separated by a dry stane dyke.
Laganbeastie West is an undisturbed cairn listed as Canmore ID 61881 (go to Links). It is around 20 yards EW axis by 2 yards high , however, it is covered in grass with stones only visible on the summit. It’s possible that Laganabeastie Cairns East & West would been twins in the prehistoric landscape.
Directions: Take the un-signposted single track road 400 yards N of the Innermessan Junction on the A77 to Stranraer. Continue for 5 miles across moorland until you reach Penwhirn Reservoir and Filter Station. Take the next L across a bridge just after the Filter Station. This is a dead end single track road leading to Lagafater Lodge. Follow this narrow road for 2.5 miles until you reach an exposed stone bridge. Park in the next passing place. The Laganabeastie Cairns can be seen on the R in a rough pasture surrounded by a dry stane dyke. If you reach a Private Road sign you have gone too far. Turn around and the cairns will be on your L after around 500 yards.

Visited 11.07.20

Barclye Cairn is described in Canmore ID 62933 (go to Links). It is a robbed out cairn 20m across by 1.5m high. There are two earthfast stones which may be the remnants of a cist.

Directions: Take the A75 turn off to Newton Stewart at the large roundabout. Follow the town centre to the end of Victoria Street & bear left across the Cree Bridge. Turn L about 50 yards from the end of the bridge into Minnigaff. After 0.5 mile you will see a war memorial on your R.
Take the next L turn after 100 yards. This is a narrow country lane headed to Cree Woods. Follow this lane past Minigaff Parish Church, Boreland Wood and Boreland Farm. Around 0.75 mile after Boreland Farm there is a gate at NX 389 686 (approximately) on the R. There is limited parking here so I chose to go onto Barclye Wood Parking (NX 38604 69482) around 0.5 miles along the lane.
Having walked back to the gateway, I headed N up a slope for 300 yards to a hilltop where Barclye Cairn is prominent.
Drumwhirn Cairn & Barclye Cairn are close together so they can easily be achieved in the same trip.

Visited 11.07.20



Directions: Take the A75 turn off to Newton Stewart at the large roundabout. Follow the town centre to the end of Victoria Street & bear left across the Cree Bridge. Turn L about 50 yards from the end of the bridge into Minnigaff. After 0.5 mile you will see a war memorial on your R.
Take the next L turn after 100 yards. This is a narrow country lane headed to Cree Woods. Follow this lane past Minigaff Parish Church, Boreland Wood and Boreland Farm. Around 0.5 mile after Boreland Farm a green lane protected by a deer gate starts at NX 39089 68355 on the R. There is limited parking here so I chose to go onto Barclye Wood Parking (NX 38604 69482) around 0.5 miles along the lane.

Having walked back to the green lane I found the gate immovable so I had to climb the high style beside the gate. Follow the green lane uphill for 300 yards, bearing R at a fork then reach another deer gate 150 yards later. I opened this gate with some difficulty (it was heavy and stiff) and followed the field perimeter NE for around 150 yards to another deer gate. Look L to see Drumwhirn Cairn, a significant pile of stones in the adjacent field around 300 yards away. After another deer gate workout there is a stream to cross on stepping stones before reaching the field. Drumwhirn Cairn is impressive on approach however closer inspection shows significant stone robbing. The summit has been excavated leaving a dirt filled hollow behind.

Drumwhirn Cairn is on a highpoint with extensive views all round. It is around 30 metres across and 5 metres high. It must have been spectacular before Man started messing with it.

Further details of Drumwhirn Cairn can be found at Canmore ID 62929 (go to Links).

Drumwhirn Cairn & Barclye Cairn are close together so they can easily be achieved in the same trip.

Visited 21.01.09

I have little memory of this visit except for the seemingly endless bleak moorland, however I have submitted pictures of both Eggs.

Visited 17.04.09

There is a Car Park at Embsay Reservoir. Follow the road NW, parallel to Embsay Reservoir towards Crookrise Wood. Go straight on at the end of the road following the path N rather than an obvious track E. The path veers NW towards the corner of the wood and follows NW between the moor and the wood. After nearly 1 mile you will reach the Trig Point of Crookrise Crag. The Fairy’s Chest lies 300 yards further up the path, on the slope of the moor. It is a large cuboid erratic which looks like it has been shaped by man not nature. It measures approximately 10m x 3m x 3m and has unusually flat surfaces. There are several other large stones around it however the flat top will give it away.

Visited 06.07.19

White Cairn, Honeyhole is a grassy cairn, 3.5 miles WNW of Thornhill. It lies in an elevated field above Honeyhole farm.
Canmore ID 65238 (go to Links) states it “survives as a partly turf-covered stony mound 32.5m E-W by 29.5m and up to 1.7m high with no significant features.”
Nothing has changed since the 1977 survey. The flat field contrasts with the cairn’s modest elevation. Some scattered small stones are visible amongst a grassy thatch.
Directions: take the Sanquhar road off the A702 in Penpont. After two miles bear L for Scar Water. After 0.5 mile you will reach Honeyhole farm. Continue for c. 300 yards to a gateway on L with space to park. Head uphill SW, towards the corner of the wood. After 300 yards climbing steeply cross into the adjacent field. Walk SW for another 200 yards to reach White Cairn, Honeyhole.

Visited 28.08.19

White Cairn, West Skelston is a partially robbed cairn, reused as a dump for field clearance stones and old farm equipment. It is 3 miles W of Dunscore in an arable field overlooking West Skelston farm.
Canmore ID 65098 (go to Links) describes the cairn in 1991 as follows: “This cairn is situated on the crest of a spur and measures 23m in diameter and 3m in height; it has been partly robbed and has been supplemented by large boulders relatively recently.”
There are original stones with an aged white patina but there are also a large central robbed out void, large field clearance stones and some old farm equipment on this cairn.
This seems to be the fate of cairns in proximity of farms where the temptation to exploit a natural resource is too great.

Visited 07.04.12

Fleucharg Long Cairn has certainly been abused over the millennia, most probably in the last centuries. However, it is still a significant presence in the landscape worth visiting.
It was archaeologically excavated in 1937. Canmore ID 65063 (go to Links) states it “measures 150 ft NNE-SSW by 44 ft across the N end and 85 ft some 25 ft from the S end, and has a maximum height of 14 ft.”
Of particular note was “a setting of three boulders, possibly part of a kerb” according to Canmore ID 65063.
There are also large voids in the cairn due to stone robbing.
It is identified as White Cairn in OS 1:50k maps.

White Cairn, Gelston was a cairn 1 mile W of Gelston, a small community near Castle Douglas.
Canmore ID 64467 (go to Links) says the “remains of this cairn consist of two large stones set in line east to west with an indeterminate scatter of small stones to the south. The west stone is 3.0m long by 0.6m wide and 1.0m high, the other being approx half this size.” This entry dates to 1968 and things have changed since then. On 14.09.19 two large stones corresponding to the 1968 entry were piled in the corner of a field with an old tyre at the expected grid reference. There is a third small stone beside the pair of stones but the scattered stones have been removed. The destruction of the cairn has been completed. The remaining two large stones were thought to have been part of the cist originally.
It was more of a practical exercise to find the site of the destroyed cairn than a walk to an existing cairn.

This is one for the completists. The Stoners who will leave no stone unturned. The pictures have been on my hard drive since August 2015 so I have had to resort to OS Maps Aerial to describe the final steps to the cairn.
White Cairn, Clatteringshaws is hiding in the forest half a mile SW of Lillie’s Loch Car Park on the edge of Clatteringshaws Loch. Take Lillie’s Loch/Loch Dee turn off the A712 just S of Clatteringshaws Loch. After almost 1 mile Lillie’s Loch Car Park is on L at a sharp corner. Follow Lillie’s Loch track SW for 400 yards crossing over a forest road into a wide forest ride. Continue W for 300 yards, bear L at a fork, head W for around 120 yards. Turn L into a narrow forest ride heading S. Follow this path for 200 yards approximately, look for a forest ride to your R. Follow this for 120 yards into a large clearing. Turn L for around 60 yards heading S. Look for a forest ride on your R, follow it for 40 yards and the cairn will appear (hopefully).
White Cairn, Clatteringshaws has its private pine enclosure giving it a sense of isolation. However the ruined state of the cairn detracts from the spectacle. According to Canmore ID 63797 (go to Links) “White Cairn has been circular, 40’ in diameter, but it has been almost completely destroyed and small sheep shelters have been built out of its material on the site. The interment has probably been disturbed long ago.”
The remains are a confused jumble of stones. As I said, this is one for the completists!

White Cairn, Bargrennan Burn lies in the middle of unimproved grazing, 0.5 miles north of Marberry Smokehouse on the A714 near Bargrennan. It is defined as a “kerb cairn” by Canmore ID 63008.
Many will have visited its more famous companion, White Cairn, Bargrennan which is in the forest near Glentrool Village, almost 1 mile SE.
White Cairn, Bargrennan Burn has fared better than its illustrious neighbour perhaps due to its relative inaccessibility. “The White Cairn is 50 feet in diameter and 7 ft high, slightly robbed on the south. There is a small circular excavation about 2 feet deep in the top but there is no evidence of a cist or chamber.” (Canmore ID 63008 (go to Links))
This White Cairn is one of the few to show a glimmer of white, some of the exposed stones having an aged white patina.
A GPS is almost essential for this hidden cairn, however, walking 700 yards N from the sheepfold should allow you to find the cairn.
Starting at Newton Stewart take the A714 Girvan road for 12 miles to Bargrennan. Stay on the A714 for a futher 1.25 miles until you reach Marberry Smokehouse on the R. Parking is possible at NX 33840 78648, a mast at the end of a fast straight stretch of the A714. Walk back along the road until you reach the sheepfold then head N over rough ground for around 700 yards to NX 3422 7910. You should be able to see the cairn as a raised grass mound with some scattered stones from this approach.

It would be foolish to visit the Hole Stone near Crouse farm without taking in White Cairn, Crouse on the way. There is room to park in a gateway at NX 36446 55806. Walk SE towards the gate in the dry stane dyke. White Cairn, Crouse lies 20 yards E of the gate. At first glance it looks like a field clearance cairn however there is a classic raised bank underlying structure. It is likely that the cairn was robbed of its original stones to build the neighbouring dry stane dykes and field clearance stones were subsequently piled up randomly.
Canmore ID 62871 (go to Links) gives the dimensions of the cairn as “28.0m N-S by 27.0m E-W and 2.0m high”.
Return to the gate, walk 40 yards S into the next field to visit the Hole Stone. It is already listed on TMA and well worth a visit. Canmore ID 62872 (go to Links) includes a wealth of information about a second stone and marriage rituals.

Visited 17.09.19

White Cairn, Barrhill is 1 mile W of Barrhill wedged into the corner of a field in forestry. Canmore ID 62561 (go to Links) gives its dimensions as “about 25m in diameter and varies in height from 1.0m to 2.5m”.
The grassed-over cairn has been extensively robbed with few scattered stones remaining but the underlying structure is intact. A modern cairn, 10 feet high has been constructed at the summit of the cairn and a sheepfold built nearby. This would account for the missing stones.
Park at Barrhill station and cross the tracks following a farm road N. Walk past Cairnlea farm following the farm road until you reach a sheepfold, about 200 yards on the R. Turn R into the field adjacent to the sheepfold and follow the fence NW across fields for 600 yards until you reach the edge of a forest. Walk NW along the edge of the forest for about 500 yards until you reach a sheepfold. Go through the gate ahead into a large field, the cairn is in the R corner beside the forest.

Visited 05.10.19

White Cairn, Laggish lies in a pine forest 4km S of Barrhill. Canmore ID 62463 (go to Links) indicates that the cairn was extensively robbed by 1955 however the tree planting round the cairn has caused further disruption. It also describes the “remains of the White Cairn, grass-covered and measuring 19m in diameter and 1m in maximum height.” The current dimensions of the cairn are around 15m by 1.5m. The cairn is still grass covered though pine needles are encroaching. There is a rock outcrop on the N side of the cairn as indicated by Canmore ID 62463.
There are no stones in the centre of the cairn however there is a large recumbent stone 5m W of the cairn, approximately fitting the dimensions of the central recumbent boulder. It could easily have been moved during the tree planting.
The subdued light of the clearing and the unnatural quiet of the pine forest add to the ambiance of this hidden cairn.
Take the New Luce road out of Barrhill. After 2.25 miles you reach a forest. Park up at the lay-by for Dochroyle & Laggish. Follow the track for 0.75 miles to reach Dochroyle, a tiny forest community. Pass through Dochroyle, through a locked gate turning R down the forest track. Turn R into a forest break after 500 yards at NX 23079 78656 which leads into a large forest break. Turn L and head over boggy ground for 50 yards, turn R into the forest for 20 yards to the cairn at NX 2298 7860. The above directions are approximate and a GPS is almost essential to find this cairn.

Visited 01.12.19

White Cairn, High Aires is situated 7.5 miles NNE of Glenluce, amid forestry and wind turbines. It is a grass covered round cairn, around 20 yards in diameter & 5 yards in height. The summit of the cairn is unexcavated and the stone structure appears to be intact.
Take the Dirnow road off the A75 near Kircowan. After three miles you reach a crossroads. Head straight onto a forest track to wind turbines. After 1.75 miles park beside a turbine at NX 26547 68071. There is an access road to the L. Walk around 300 yards S to a track entering a field. Turn R along the perimeter of the field following the curve until you reach a fence. The cairn is visible 10 yards into the adjacent field.
Further information is available in Canmore ID 62297 (go to Links).

Visited 08.12.19
White Cairn, Markdhu was a small cairn on a natural knoll which had been removed by 1911 according to Canmore ID 61791 (go to Links). A sheepfold has been constructed on the knoll but it is now in ruins.
The site is shown on OS 1:50k maps and can be visited in conjunction with Cairn Kenny, a more impressive cairn, which lies around 400 yards NW.
Given their proximity and their relative isolation in rough moorland it makes sense to visit both sites together. See Cairn Kenny page for directions.
While little of the original cairn remains, the location of the knoll in flat moorland may explain the creation of the cairn.