Bandirran

A group of stones (centred at NO 2105 3105), particulars as follows:- (At 'A' = NO 2098 3109) a fallen stone. 10'6" x 4'5"; (at 'B' = NO 2105 3096) another fallen stone 7'8" x 2'1" x 3'4", and (at 'C' = NO 2108 3096) a standing stone, 6' x 5' x 2'2".

Information from M E C Stewart 29 August 1953.

(At 'D' - NO 2103 3114) are three more stones two standing and one recumbent.

Information from M E C Stewart 15 December 1964.

Stones A, B and C are as described by Stewart but the Group at 'D' was not located.

'A' at NO 2098 3117, is possibly a fallen stone but more likely an erratic.

'B', at NO 2106 3095 (7.0m SW of 'C'), is probably an erratic.

'C', at NO 2107 3096, is a large standing stone, measurements as given by Stewart.

Standing Stone 'C' surveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 4 February 1969.

A pair of standing stones (one of them now fallen) is situated in a conifer plantation to the E of the Bandirran stone circle (NO23SW 3); another recumbent slab lies about 150m to the NNW (at NO 2098 3109), but there is no evidence that it ever stood upright.

Of the pair, the upright stone measures 1.75m by 1.1m and 1.9m in height, while the fallen stone (which is situated 4.7m to the WSW) measures 1m by 0.75m and 2.5m in length. The recumbent stone to the NNW measures 1.3m by at least 0.6m, and 3.25m in length.

The group of stones that is noted by Stewart (1964, OS 6" corr; NO 2103 3114) could not be located on the date of visit.

Visited by RCAHMS (JRS) 7 April 1989.

RCAHMS surveyed the stone circle at Bandirran (NO23SW 3) with plane-table and alidade on 20 April 1989 at a scale of 1:125. The resultant plan was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:250 as part of a ‘Comparative plans of stone circles in South-east Perth’ illustration (RCAHMS 1994b, 32).

RCAHMS surveyed the standing stones at Bandirran (NO23SW 2) with plane-table and alidade on 20 April 1989 at a scale of 1:125. The resultant plan was redrawn in ink.

NO 2107 3096. A survey by the Archaeological and Historical Section of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science revealed nine stones in the vicinity of the standing and recumbent stones (NMRS NO 23 SW 2). Five of these ?new? stones, with the standing and recumbent stones, form an apparent circle of seven stones, c 14.5m diameter, with a sixth stone within the circle to the N of the standing stone. Two other stones to the S of the standing stone do not form part of the circle (one, displaced, is lying on the turf); the ninth stone is SE of the standing stone. The stones are within a much larger, low-banked, oval enclosure.

A drawing and sketch plan by Skene of Rubislaw, dated 1834, shows the standing and other stones before the site was afforested. This drawing has been wrongly identified as being of the Bandirran Stone Circle at NO 2091 3099 (NMRS NO 23 SW 3). Skene depicts the standing stone as being at the centre of a circle of seven stones (including the recumbent stone), with an eighth stone within the circle to the N of the standing stone. Skene gives the diameter of the circle as 36ft (10.97m).

Excluding the standing and recumbent stones, five of Skene's stones can still be found on site: to the NW, NE, E SE and the stone within the circle to the N of the standing stone; Skene's stones to the N and SW are no longer evident. In addition to these stones of Skene, the present survey located another stone to the NW and another to the NE.

The 'new' stones vary in length from 0.59-1.09m. The recumbent stone is 2.61m long, the standing stone c 2m. As the 'new' stones are dwarfed in size by the standing and recumbent stones, it is not clear whether either of the apparent stone circles (of Skene or the present survey) is genuine or the result of more recent placement, but presumably long before Skene's visit. It is unlikely that the positions of the smaller stones are natural.

The survey and photographs will be lodged in Perth Museum.

G Watson 1997.