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Mains Of Hatton
Recumbent Stone Circle (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Site Name Mains Of Hatton
Classification Recumbent Stone Circle (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Alternative Name(s) Charlesfield
Canmore ID 18357
Site Number NJ64SE 6
NGR NJ 6993 4254
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/18357
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Auchterless
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Banff And Buchan
- Former County Aberdeenshire
NJ64SE 6 6993 4254
(NJ 6993 4254) Stone Circle (NR)
OS 6" map, (1959)
The remains of a recumbent stone circle, c. 67' in diameter. Stones removed from the area of the circle are deposited beside the the recumbent stone.
Details of the stones are as follows:
"A": 6'2" (1.5m) x 4'8" (0.8m) x 1'5" (0.5m) whinstone (fallen).
"B": 2'8" (0.7m) x 2' (0.6m) x 1' (0.3m) whinstone.
"C": 4' (1.0m) x 2'7" (0.7m) x 2'4" (0.5m) whinstone.
"D": 4'4" (1.0m) x 2'6" (0.7m) x 1'7" (0.4m) whinstone.
"E": 1' (0.7m) x 3'6" (1.0m) quartz (half-buried).
"F": 4'5" (1.2m) x 2' (1.2m) x (0.5m) unspecified (fallen).
"G": 6'6" (1.5m) x 2'3" (0.6m) x (0.8m) unspecified (fallen).
"H": 5'4" (0.9m) x 2'3" (0.6m) x (0.6m) unspecified (fallen).
"J": 3'4" (0.8m) x 6'10" (2.1m) x 5'8" (1.7m) whinstone and quartz fallen.
"K": 8' (2.3m) x 3' (1.0m) x 1'6"-3'5" (0.6m-1.2m) whinstone.
"L": 6' (1.6m) x 3'10" (1.3m) x 1'8" (0.5m) whinstone fallen.
"M": (1.9m) x (0.7m) x (0.4m) fallen gatepost stone.
"N": (1.9m) x (0.8m) x (0.5m) fallen.
One of the stones bears two iron spikes set in lead, the explanation of which is said to be that the stone was removed for use as a gatepost, but so many accidents happened in consequence that the stone was returned although not to the original position.
F R Coles 1903; J Forrest 1873.
The scant remains of a recumbent stone circle with just the recumbent stone (now surrounded by loose boulders) remaining in situ. The outline of the circle is marked by a faint bank around a dished interior, giving a diameter c. 21.5m, with several displaced stones around its circumference (as planned by Coles {1903}). Stone M contains the "iron spikes". A modern water tank has been erected inside the circle immediately N of the recumbent stone.
Resurveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (ISS) 3 January 1973.
A recumbent stone circle with both early and late features.
H A W Burl 1973.
Field Visit (3 May 2005)
This recumbent stone circle is now enclosed with a wire fence. It occupies a position in a field on the gentle slope dropping away to the SE from the summit of the low hill NW of Mains of Hatton. Measuring roughly 23m from ENE to WSW by 21m transversely overall, it is oval on plan and originally comprised at least twelve stones, nine of which remain, though all bar two of these are now lying prone. The recumbent (2), which is on the SSE, measures about 2.1m in length and is one of the two stones still in place, but its summit has been broken off and it now stands only 1.15m in height. One of the fragments from the summit lies nearby on the WNW (2a) and has been a gatepost, the stumps of two square-sectioned iron fittings in its W face betraying its use (see below); a smaller fragment (2b) has been split off the back of the recumbent’s W end. Both the flankers have suffered similar attention, but while the eastern of the pair (3) has merely lost its N end, the western (1) has been reduced in every dimension and now lies displaced to the S of its original position. Three other large stones lie prostrate around the recumbent setting, though the geological survey indicates that none of them is derived from the recumbent or either of its flankers. One (B) has been tailored as a second gatepost and has a bolt-hole visible immediately W of the spectacular veneer of quartz on its N face. The other two are also quarried fragments, the one lying W of the setting (A) exhibiting a possible fractured face on its E, and the other, a boulder of orange and milky quartz on the NE (C); a shot-hole is visible in a small fragment (not labelled on plan) between the two detached fragments of the recumbent. Of the six orthostats in the ring, only the stump on the WNW (8) is in its socket, but the circle was almost certainly graded (cf Barnatt 1989, 292), both the height and spacing of the orthostats reducing from S to N. Like the recumbent setting, the orthostats are mainly grey in colour, the exception being a stone of rose quartz on the NNE (6). The interior gives the impression that it is slightly dished, but this is imperceptible on the sections and may simply be the result of cultivation in and around the stones.
Visited by RCAHMS (ATW and KHJM) 3 May 2005
Measured Survey (3 May 2005)
RCAHMS surveyed Mains of Hatton recumbent stone circle on 3 May 2005 with plane table and alidade producing two sections, a plan of the site and an elevation of the recumbent setting at a scale of 1:100. The plan, sections and elevation were 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, 396).
Field Visit (1 May 2011 - 1 November 2011)
Cultural Heritage assessment for the proposed Greeness wind farm development. The assessment forms part of an Environmental Statement. The Cultural Heritage assessment identifies all historic environment features within the development area (through desk-based assessment and field survey), and key external receptors up to 10km from the proposed development. An assessment of the direct and indirect impacts of the development on these features is included.
Farmstead depicted as roofed on First Edition Ordnance Survey, now in ruins. No associated remains were discovered within the area.
Information from OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-207671 (H Tweedie) 2011
