Yonder Bognie
Recumbent Stone Circle (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Site Name Yonder Bognie
Classification Recumbent Stone Circle (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Canmore ID 18335
Site Number NJ64NW 15
NGR NJ 6006 4577
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/18335
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Forgue
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Gordon
- Former County Aberdeenshire
NJ64NW 15 6006 4577.
(NJ 6006 4577) Stone Circle (NR) (Remains of)
OS 6" map, Aberdeenshire, 2nd ed., (1902)
Yonder Bognie. A circle of Standing Stones has been constructed from large whinstone boulders on ground sloping very gently to the E. The Recumbent Stone and the tall stone to the E seem to be resting on a ridge but this is merely an accumulation of weeds (information from Mr Shand, Yonder Bognie).
The E pillar stone has fallen and is partly grass covered. There is a space of 1-ft between the Recumbent Stone and the W pillar.
The first stone (clockwise) is standing and there is a half-sunken stone close to it on the N. The second stone has a long slope to the W. The third stone has fallen inwards and its probable site is marked on the plan with a cross. The fourth stone faces the Recumbent Stone giving a diameter to the circle of 71 1/2ft. The fifth and sixth stones are missing and the seventh lies within a foot or two of its original position. A fragment of what is probably the eighth stone lies on the SE arc, but its original position cannot definitely be laid down. The ninth stone is the larger of two whose bases are shown close together. Just in front of the Recumbent Stone are some earthfast stones which appear to be integral parts of the circle. Others (the largest is marked 'S') possibly formed part of a concentric setting but have been moved out of their places, whilst the group marked 'B' is suggestive of cists.
There is no indication whatever of a mound in the centre.
F R Coles 1903.
The circle is generally as described above, although it is smaller than Coles (1903) states, 16.0m between the stones he mentions and 20.0m between the second and ninth, this being the greatest diameter of the circle. The largest of the stones, the recumbent one, measures 3.4 long, X 1.5 thick X 1.6 high, the rest are much smaller but stand to heights of 1.0m to 1.8m. Re-surveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (JTT) 9 September 1964.
Field Visit (30 October 2003)
This recumbent stone circle stands on a gentle E-facing slope dropping down from the crest of a minor rise. Assuming that the surviving stones belong to a single ring (see below), the circle was oval on plan, measuring about 22m from E to W by 18m transversely, and originally comprised the recumbent setting and up to nine orthostats; only nine stones now remain, and three of these are prostrate (3, 5 & 7). The recumbent block (2), which lies on the S, measures 3.35m in length by up to 1.7m in height. Its summit is uneven and the leading face bears a rash of possibly natural pockmarks low down near its E end. Of the two flankers, only the western (1) remains upright, standing about 1.95m in height; it was the more slender of the pair, and was probably the taller also. The foot of the W flanker, which is aligned with the leading edge of the recumbent, is set at a slight angle to pick up the arc of the circle, but the setting itself appears to lie askew the projected circumference, forming a markedly flattened facade with its neighbouring orthostats (4 & 9), though it is not placed symmetrically between them. With the tallest of the orthostats on the SE (4), and the shortest on the NNW (6), there can be little doubt that the stones were graded, to reduce in height from S to N, and it is likely that the spacing of the stones decreased too. The interior probably once contained a cairn (see below), but it is now featureless, disfigured with old plough scars and heaps of field-cleared stones.
Visited by RCAHMS (ARG, ATW and IGP) 30 October 2003
Measured Survey (30 October 2003)
RCAHMS surveyed Yonder Bognie recumbent stone circle on 30 October 2003 with plane table and alidade producing a plan and section of the site and an elevation of the recumbent stone circle at a scale of 1:100. The plan was used as the basis for an illustration, produced in ink and finished in vector graphics software, that was published at a scale of 1:250 (Welfare 2011, 488).
Field Visit (10 November 2021)
The classification, location and period of this site record have been reviewed as part of record revision work carried out by HES Designations.
Visited by HES Designations (R McDonald), 10 November 2021.
