Druidstone
Recumbent Stone Circle (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Site Name Druidstone
Classification Recumbent Stone Circle (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Canmore ID 18213
Site Number NJ62SW 4
NGR NJ 6153 2219
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/18213
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Premnay
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Gordon
- Former County Aberdeenshire
NJ62SW 4 6153 2219
(NJ 6153 2219) Stone Circle (NR) (Remains of)
OS 6" map, Aberdeenshire, 1st ed., (1867).
The remains of a recumbent stone circle 55ft (16.8m) in diameter which is depicted on OS 25" map, 1867, as being 80ft (24.4m) in diameter with a smaller circle on the W and a curvilinear annexe on the N.
The stones are as follows:
'A' Erect, 3ft 4ins (1m) high.
'B' Half-fallen, outwards.
'F' Erect, 3ft 4ins (1m) high.
'K' An outlier, a square block of dark grey granite, 7ft 6ins (2.3m) high and 14ft 6ins (4.4m) in girth at base. Close to it lies a thick prostrate slab 6ft (1.8m) long and apparently earthfast.
The pillar-stones are also half-fallen, the easterly being 8ft (2.4m) long and the westerly being considerably less. Between them was a recumbent stone which was split up and removed. Ground examination suggests that the circumference of the circle has lain as the arc between 'A' and 'F', the interior being stony and uneven. Omitting 'K', there have probably been eleven stones in the circle. The interior, by the provisions of the lease of the farm, is protected from disturbance and a dike and sparse plantation shield the site. The farmer in 1901, who had been there since 1844, said that cinerary urns and quantities of burnt bones were occasionally found during ploughing outside the circle on the W. This circle was supposed to be 'the grand temple to which a causeway 57ft (17.4m) long and 12ft (3.65m) wide led from the Druidical city' (NJ62SW 6).
A Laing 1828; Name Book 1867; A Low 1868; F R Coles 1901.
(NJ 6150 2220) Stone Circle (NR)
OS 6" map, (1959).
The poorly-preserved remains of a stone circle generally as described by Coles (1901). Coles' plan, however, is inaccurate. If stones B and D are in situ as they appear to be, the diameter of the circle has only been about 14m. In its present state, neither the original position of the recumbent stone (if any), nor which of the fallen stones are the flankers can be ascertained with certainty.
There is no trace of the smaller circle to the W (shown on 25" OS map) which is in cultivated ground, nor of the curvilinear annexe in the N.
Revised at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (IMT) 7 August 1973.
(Listed as a recumbent stone circle).
H A W Burl 1973.
No change to previous field report.
Visited by OS (JM) 17 August 1976.
Scheduled as 'Druidstone, stone circle'.
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 2 August 2001.
Field Visit (6 July 1999)
This recumbent stone circle is situated at the S end of an overgrown and dilapidated enclosure that shelters three stunted trees behind Druidstone Croft; a lone outlier stands at the N end of the enclosure. The circle, which occupies the leading edge of a SE-facing terrace, measures 14.5m in diameter and comprises at least six stones, made up of the two flankers, one leaning heavily (1) the other fallen (3), and four othostats (4–7); one of the latter has also fallen (5) and two are reduced to stumps (6 & 7). The recumbent stone (2) does not survive, though a cleared boulder has been dumped between the two flankers; lying about 3m apart, these face SSW. Several other boulders occur along the circumference of the circle, including an earthfast fragment (A) leaning steeply to the NNE and a long dressed block (B) exhibiting a row of wedge sockets sunk along the N edge of its upturned face. The orthostats around the N half of the ring have been removed, but a squared block (C) with a shot-hole in its upturned surface lying discarded to the N, and a larger slab nearby (D), may be fragments of the missing stones. Within the interior there is a cairn about 0.6m high and several chunks of white quartz can be seen amongst the cleared stones around its western margin. The outlying monolith to the NNW (E) is an impressive pillar measuring about 2.25m in height.
Visited by RCAHMS (ATW and KHJM) 6 July 1999
Measured Survey (6 July 1999)
RCAHMS surveyed Druidstone recumbent stone circle on 6 July 1999 with plane table and alidade producing a plan and sections of the site at a scale of 1:100. The survey was checked on-site on 2 March 2000. The plan and sections were redrawn in ink and used as the basis for an illustration produced in vector graphics software and published at a scale of 1:250 (Welfare 2011, 351).
