Howemill
Cup Marked Stone (Prehistoric), Four Poster Stone Circle (Bronze Age)
Site Name Howemill
Classification Cup Marked Stone (Prehistoric), Four Poster Stone Circle (Bronze Age)
Canmore ID 17589
Site Number NJ51SE 3
NGR NJ 5804 1071
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/17589
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Tough
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Gordon
- Former County Aberdeenshire
NJ51SE 3 5804 1071
NR 5804 1071. Stone Circle (NR) (Four stones shown)
OS 6" map, Aberdeenshire, 2nd ed., (1901)
Howemill: of this stone circle only one erect, massive stone has been spared by the quarrymen; two others lie spilt and shattered and the place of the fourth is not known; that it stood on the NW - 'B' on plan, is probable; there it would form with the others an ellipse of 30' by 23' in diameter, and there still remain firmly set the three shaded stones on plan (Coles 1902).
At a distance of 39' SW of the standing stone is a fallen stone which when erect would probably have stood exactly in line with 'A' and 'D'. The smaller part of stone 'D' seems quite earth-fast; its larger portion has been split away. The three large pieces of 'C' are parts of one stone and between 'B' and 'A' is a litter of smaller fragments which are possibly parts of the fourth stone.
F R Coles 1902; A Keiller 1934.
Mainly as described and planned by Coles. 'B' and 'C' are most probably not in situ. No trace of the outlier to the SW could be found. The larger portion of 'D' bears 6 small, shallow cups marks. The site is now heavily overgrown with broom.
Surveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (RL) 17 September 1968.
'4-Poster'
Information contained in letter from H A W Burl, Hull. AO/SC/X/B, 26 November 1970.
Field Visit (6 September 1994)
This four-poster stone circle is situated at the W end of a broad ridge overlooking the Leochel Burn. It has consisted of four stones in a subrectangular setting measuring 6m NE-SW by 5.5m transversely, but only the S stone is complete, standing 1.1m high. The E and N stones have been broken, although earthfast stumps mark their positions, and the W stone has been reduced to a pile of broken rubble. There is an outlier, 22m away to the S, which has fallen over. The largest fragment of the E stone bears 6 cups, up to 40mm in diameter. The ground within the circle is uneven, perhaps the result of disturbance.
(CRAIG94 105)
Visited by RCAHMS (SDB), 6 September 1994
Measured Survey (6 September 1994)
RCAHMS surveyed the four-poster stone circle at Howemill with plane-table and alidade on 6 September 1994 at a scale of 1:100. The resultant plan was redrawn in ink in 1995.
