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Field Visit
Date 4 June 1998
Event ID 635085
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/635085
The dominant feature of this recumbent stone circle is the large mound of stones within the ring. This stands within a post and rail fence in a clearing amongst the conifers of Balronald Wood and straddles the leading edge of a natural terrace on the steep SE flank of Bonlee Hill. Unusually, the orthostats of the ring are interdigitated with the kerb of the cairn, which measures about 23m in overall diameter by up to 1.5m in height. This has led some to question whether it should be included in the class (Ruggles 1984, 60; Barnatt 1989, 483), but there is no doubting the character of the recumbent block (2) on the SSW, albeit missing its flankers. This measures about 3.6m in length by 0.9m in height and its even summit is set roughly horizontal. Of the orthostats, four remain on the SE, one leaning steeply (4) and the other three fallen (5–7). They were probably set out at intervals of about 3m and may have graded into the run of large kerbstones that demarcates the E side of the cairn. Elsewhere, a stumpy upright pillar (8) stands within the margin of the cairn on the NNE, while two slabs lying fallen on NW (9) and WSW (10) respectively may be small orthostats rather than kerbstones. The surface of the cairn is disfigured with crude excavation trenches dug in 1875 by Rev John Michie, but it preserves an asymmetric profile on the slope and is evidently built up on the E to create a level top; this may account for the presence of the larger kerbstones on the E, designed to retain the greater height of cairn material on the downslope side. Nothing can now be seen of a court that Michie describes at the centre of the cairn; measuring 3.65m in diameter within a kerb of upright stones and drystone masonry, it contained some sherds of pottery and a few sheep and deer bones.
Visited by RCAHMS (ATW and KHJM) 4 May 2006
