Frendraught
Recumbent Stone Circle (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Site Name Frendraught
Classification Recumbent Stone Circle (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Alternative Name(s) Fendraught
Canmore ID 18370
Site Number NJ64SW 6
NGR NJ 61099 42865
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/18370
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Forgue
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Gordon
- Former County Aberdeenshire
NJ64SW 6 6109 4285.
The remains of a recumbent stone circle lie within the edge of a wood near the NE boundary of the farm of Hillhead of Frendraught. (Crofts of Hillhead centred NJ 613 421 on 1st edition 6" OS map, Aberdeenshire, 1871.)
It has been about 85' in diameter but most of its dozen or so stones have been removed leaving only four complete and fragments of others lying on the W arc. One of the fragments has boreholes, relics of an attempt at further destruction in the mid-19th century.
The broken recumbent stone, on the S arc, measures 5' long (a portion 1'7" long having been broken off) by 6'3" high and 3'6" broad. The E pillar, now fallen, is 7'4" long, 2'8" broad, and 2' thick. The W pillar is 6'6" high, 3'7" broad, and 2'3" thick. The fragments on the W arc appear to represent three stones, and a fourth stands erect 85' N of the recumbent stone. Nothing is known of any excavations or finds.
J Ritchie 1917.
The remains of a recumbent stone circle at NJ 6109 4285, formerly known as "The Covenanters Preaching Stones" (information from Mrs Alexander Hawkhall, Frendraught) and mainly as describe by Ritchie (1917). The only stone in situ is the recumbent stone. The circle is now heavily overgrown and a detailed examination was impossible. Rubble in the centre, however, suggests that part of the central cairn may survive under the vegetation.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (ISS) 9 January 1973.
A recumbent stone circle showing both early and late features.
H A W Burl 1973.
Field Visit (29 October 2003)
This recumbent stone circle stands on a gentle NE-facing slope at the edge of the dense plantation of conifers that clothes the summit of Bogcoup. Lying immediately W of a trackway, most of the trees in the immediate vicinity have been cleared, though in its turn this has allowed grass and bracken to spring up. Slightly oval on plan, the ring measures about 22m from ENE to WSW by no more than 20m transversely overall; including the recumbent and its fallen flankers on the SSE, it comprises at least six stones (1–3 & 5–7). The recumbent block (2) now measures 2.35m in length by 1.85m in height, but three large fragments have been broken off it (2a–c), two lying at its foot on the W and one on the E; despite the damage, the E end still retains part of its domed summit. The flankers have fallen and measure 2.1m and 2.25m in length respectively, and whereas the latter (3) is a relatively slender stone, its western neighbour (1) is a much broader and thicker slab. When they were upright, however, both would have appeared to curve inwards over the ends of the recumbent. Of the other orthostats of the ring, only the fallen stone some 1.7m in length on the NNW (5) is still intact, while two others, on the W (6) and SW (7) respectively, have been broken up, the fractured shot-holes in the S edge of 6 and in one of its adjacent pieces betraying their fate. Another two fragments lying on the ENE (4) and SSW (8) may come from other orthostats. Although it is not possible to estimate the number of orthostats in the circle, the difference in length between the flankers and the fallen stone on NNW (5) indicates that they were probably graded in height. Within the interior there are traces of an internal cairn, now largely reduced to a stony swelling on the SW and a low scarp around the E; the old forestry furrows scored across the circle have also revealed several patches of stones within the interior.
Visited by RCAHMS (ARG and IGP) 29 October 2003
Measured Survey (29 October 2003)
RCAHMS surveyed Frendraught recumbent stone circle on 29 October 2003 with plane table and alidade producing a plan and section of the site and an elevation of the recumbent setting at a scale of 1:100. The plan, section and elevation 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, 364).
Field Visit (1 May 2024)
The classification, location and period of this site record have been reviewed and location changed from NJ 6109 4285 to NJ 61099 42865 as part of record revision work carried out by HES Designations.
Visited by HES Designations (A. Fulton, A. Rutherford), 01 May 2024.
