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Field Visit

Date 19 August 2003

Event ID 635282

Category Recording

Type Field Visit

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/635282

Partly restored, this recumbent stone circle stands to the NNW of Netherton farm, in a roundel of deciduous trees on gently sloping ground dropping away to the NE. The circle measures about 17m in overall diameter and, including the recumbent setting on the S, eight stones remain, though one on the N is fallen (6). The recumbent (2), which measures about 2.9m in length by 1.1m in height, has a gently convex summit and its W end appears to rest upon a firm bed of stones. The flankers stand about 1.65m high, but they present contrasting shapes, the western (1) being a thick block, and the eastern (3) a broader and thinner slab; both are aligned with the leading edge of the recumbent, but set at a slight angle to pick up the arc of the circle. In its original form the remainder of the ring probably comprised seven stones and was evidently graded to reduce in height from S to N, the tallest of the five surviving stones being on the WSW (8) and the shortest on the NE (5). Allowing for missing stones on the SE and WNW, the spacing of the stones also appears to reduce towards the N. However, the orthostat on the WSW (8) stands well within the projected arc of the circle and may well have been re-erected. Other hints at a certain amount of restoration work here are provided by the roughly parallel lines of stones leading away from the flankers, though some of those on the E were present by 1870 (below). Most are low boulders typical of kerbstones, but the four forming the inner line on the E (A–D) are spaced slabs set on end, which neither conform to nor project the arc of the circle; those on the W are aligned on the position of the probably re-erected WSW orthostat (8). Restoration would explain the inauthentic quality of these lines of boulders and slabs, which may be no more than a poorly executed attempt to mimic the kerbstones associated with the ring-banks typical of other Buchan rings. In this case there is certainly no evidence of a ring-bank associated with these stones, nor of any cairn material within the level interior of the roundel, though this stands some 0.6m above the surrounding fields.

Visited by RCAHMS (JRS and KHJM) 19 August 2003

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