Craigengelt, Ghost's Knowe
Cairn (Bronze Age)
Site Name Craigengelt, Ghost's Knowe
Classification Cairn (Bronze Age)
Canmore ID 45953
Site Number NS78NW 3
NGR NS 74757 85733
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/45953
- Council Stirling
- Parish St Ninians
- Former Region Central
- Former District Stirling
- Former County Stirlingshire
NS78NW 3 7476 8571.
(NS 7476 8571) Ghost's Knowe (NR)
OS 6" map (1958)
A low mound composed of earth and gravel Ordnance Survey Object Name Book (ONB 1860) is all that remains of the cairn formerly known as the "Ghost's Knowe". The New Statistical Account (NSA 1845) describes it as having been circular on plan, 300' in circumference and 12' in height, and "flanked around by 12 very large stones, placed at equal distances". When the cairn was demolished, various internal features were noted. "About 6' from the centre stood 4 upright stones, each about 5' in height, describing an oblong figure like a bed. Within this a coffin was found, 7' x 3 1/2' x 3 1/2' deep." The cist, or chamber, contained a skeleton wrapped in decayed material. Among an unknown number of relics were a stone battle axe and a stone knife. (What the RCAHMS call a battle-axe is called a "stone axe of beautiful workmanship" in the NSA and ONB, and a "polished stone axe or hammer" by Wilson). Also found were a "golden horn or cup, weighing 14 ozs, and ornamented with chased or embossed figures", together with a gold ring that "had had a jewel in it, but the jewel was out; and it was what is called chased." Only the stone axe was in the possession of the proprietor, Mr J Dick, Provost of Stirling, in 1860, but neither it nor any of the other relics can be traced.
The divergence between the stone relics and the gold ones suggests that whereas the cairn originally contained a battle-axe burial, a secondary deposit, probably of Roman or medieval date, had been made in it.
RCAHMS 1963, visited 1952; D Wilson 1851
Ghost's Knowe is a large ditchless turf-covered earthen mound now spread to 38.0m NW-SE by 36.0m and 1.5m high. There is no sign of the stones which flanked it. It has the appearance of a barrow.
Visited by OS (JP) 22 January 1974
Field Visit (15 May 1943)
This mound lies about 400 yds ESE of Craigenelt, the road to the farm cutting its southern edge. It is so much spread, no doubt as a result of ploughing, that its dimensions must be to some extent a matter of opinion; subject to this proviso, however, it may be said to measure about 107 ft over all from north to south by about 95 ft from east to west, the height varying between 4 ft 6 in and 6 ft according to the natural slope of the ground. An area measuring about 40ft in diameter on the top of the mound is flattened.
Visited by RCAHMS (AG) 15 May 1943.
Field Visit (October 1978)
Ghost's Knowe, Craigengelt NS 747 857 NS78NW 3
This cairn, which was 'flanked around' by twelve large stones, has been reduced to an oval turf-covered mound measuring 38m in maximum diameter and 1.5m in height. At its centre there was a rectangular setting of stones measuring about 1.5m high, within which there was a large cist containing an inhumation, some 'gold' artifacts and a stone axe and knife, all of which are now lost.
RCAHMS 1979, visited October 1978
(NSA, viii, Stirling, 324; RCAHMS 1963, p. 60, no. 9)
