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Field Visit

Date 22 July 1999

Event ID 635354

Category Recording

Type Field Visit

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/635354

Three stones disposed in a shallow arc 130m SW of the steading at New Wester Echt are all that remain of a recumbent stone circle with what was probably an outlying standing stone. They stand on ground sloping gently down eastwards from the summit of a low hill, the easternmost (B) being the outlier and the other two comprising the W flanker (1) and an orthostat (4) on the SE quarter of the ring. The flanker is a tall granite slab and measures 1.4m in breadth by 0.4m in thickness and up to 2.4m in height, while the neighbouring orthostat, which leans heavily to the S, is about 1.9m high. The presence of an internal cairn can be inferred from a single kerbstone, a thin upright slab, visible amongst the field-cleared stones gathered behind the flanker. Its character is clearly demonstrated by one of James Ritchie’s photographs taken in 1902 before the rest of the stones were dumped here, though the status of a second earthfast stone he noted behind the flanker is less certain (see below). A large polygonal slab (A) also now lies amongst these stones and may be a fragment from one of the other orthostats. With so few stones remaining it is difficult to estimate the original diameter of the circle with any confidence, but the positions of the stones, and due allowance for the recumbent and a second flanker, place the diameter in the order of 23m, with the outlier standing about 8m to the E. The latter measures about 1.3m by 1m at ground level and rises to a point at a height of 2.6m; its S face bears an incised cross near the top and the initials CM towards the base.

Visited by RCAHMS (JRS, ATW and KHJM) 22 July 1999

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