Archaeology Notes

Event ID 731510

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/731510

NY29NE 13 25351 96153

(NY 2535 9615) Girdlestanes (NAT)

Stone Circle (NR)

OS 6" map (1965).

For Loupin' Stanes stone circle (NY 2570 9663), see NY29NE 11.

See also NY29NE 24.

'Girdle Stanes', Stone Circle: The W side of this stone circle has been washed away by the White Esk. What remains is a crescentic arrangement of 26 stones, forming 2/3 of a circle, c.130' in diameter. In the bed of the stream are 6-8 boulders of no great size, possibly part of the missing arc. The stones are placed very irregularly both as regards alignment and distance apart. Of the remaining stones, 10 are erect and pillar-like, one being a double stone; 4 are prostrate pillars, 1 a flat slab, and the rest are squat. The standing stones vary from 1'6"-5'4" in height and the prostrate pillars from 5'6"-7' in length. Probably a considerable number of stones has been removed.

D Christison 1897; G Goldsbrough 1912; RCAHMS 1920, visited 1912.

The twenty-six stones of this circle are set on a slight earthen bank c.3.0m wide. The circle is otherwise as described.

Resurveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (JP), 1 November 1973.

This stone circle is well-preserved. No change to previous field report.

Visited by OS (MJF), 30 August 1978.

A preliminary geophysical survey of this site was carried out by GeoQuest in November 1993. Geomagnetic data indicated several pits within the enclosure, with additional pits along the line of the stone circle. A weak magnetic anomaly suggested a narrow bank of stoney material, about 8m outside the stone circle. No evidence was found for an enclosing ditch within the surveyed area.

Information from GeoQuest Associates, 1994.

NMRS, MS/730/12.

Scheduled as 'Girdlestanes... the remains of a stone circle...'

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 29 October 2010.

Girdlestanes

Stone Circle [NAT]

OS (GIS) MasterMap, November 2010.