Wildshaw Burn
Stone Circle (Prehistoric)
Site Name Wildshaw Burn
Classification Stone Circle (Prehistoric)
Alternative Name(s) Thirstone
Canmore ID 46425
Site Number NS82NE 11
NGR NS 88186 27151
NGR Description Centre
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/46425
- Council South Lanarkshire
- Parish Crawfordjohn
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Clydesdale
- Former County Lanarkshire
NS82NE 11 882 271
In line of A74 improvement works.
Information from HBM (P Ashmore) 16 June 1990.
The monument is on a terrace on the E side of Wildshaw Burn at around 28 5m OD. The site is on a SW-facing slope and has good visibility in all directions except to the NE where the ground rises gently fromit. The stone setting is elliptical measuring 50m by 40m the long axis almost on a NS alignment. Thirteen stones were visible on the day of discovery and a further ten were located by probing. These were cleared of about 150mm of moss and peat in order to record them. Peat had accumulated to an average depth of 0.3m over the site. It is estimated that the complete monument should have 40 stones at an average distance from each other of 3m. Of the 23 stones that exist only two appear to be set in the ground and these are very low. The rest are clearly lying on the ground. Their length varies from 0.9m to 1.7m. This leads to two possibilities: (A) the monument was never completed, or (B) it was destroyed in antiquity. The source of the stone has been established as the nearby outcrop of an igneous dyke uphill from the circle. All the stone is from this source and they are of random shape and size. A small outlying earth fast stone 30m to the NE may have no significance but a recumbent stone measuring 1.6m by 1m lying 260m to the NW may be relevant to the site.
T Ward 1990.
NS 8820 2716 In 1992 midwinter sunrise was observed to take place on an alignment over stone numbers 20 and 10. The first flash of the rising sun is seen exactly in the crossover point between the hills of Craighead and Blackhill, to the SE of the circle. Further detailed survey of the position of the sun realative to this monument has been carried out in order to predict any solar or lunar sight lines from the circle.
T Ward 1993.
NS 8820 2716 In 1995, midsummer sunset was observed to take place on an accurate alignment over stone numbers 10 and 19 (Ward 1992). The horizon of the sunset is featureless. Midsummer sunrise was observed to take place from stone 16, the rising sun appeared between stones 5 and 6, again on a featureless horizon.
T Ward 1995.
External Reference (13 June 1991)
'Stone circle at c.NS 8820 2716. Situated just east of the Wildshaw Burn. This monument was demarcated by flagging in April 1990 prior to road-building activity. It is now, or should be, scheduled. It should therefore still survive as an upstanding monument.'
Information from A Leslie (APG [GUARD]) 13 June 1991.
Field Visit (9 November 2016)
This stone circle, which is situated on a natural terrace in rough peaty pasture immediately above and to the E of a gully confining the Wildshaw Burn, is oval on plan and measures 50m from NNE to SSW by 40m transversely. Twenty-three stones now define its outline, but only three remain standing (11, 13 and 21) and there are notable gaps in its circuit. Ten of the stones that have fallen lie below the present ground surface (9, 10, 12, 14, 16-19, 22), but like many of the others (4-8, 11, 13, 15, 20-21, 23) they are disclosed within cut-outs from the peat up to 0.25m deep. The upright stones vary between 0.3m (11, 13) and 0.5m (21) in height, while the fallen stones vary between 0.83m (2) and 1.8m (15) in length. All appear to be of the same fine-grained igneous rock, but their size and shape does not seem to be related to their position in the ring in any meaningful way. There is no indication as to how they were erected, but the small size of some and the fact that so many have fallen indicates that their sockets must be shallow. One of the stones has been deliberately split (5), which implies that the gaps in the circuit may result from robbing. The ring's interior, which slopes gently SW, is entirely featureless; and although it enjoys an extensive outlook clockwise from E to NW, the view is foreshortened elsewhere by the rising ground.
The isolated stones situated respectively 30m ENE and 260m NW of the stone circle were not located on the date of visit (Ward 1990c), but there seems no reason to suppose that they should be linked with it.
Visited by HES, Survey and Recording (ATW, GFG), 9 November 2016
Measured Survey (9 November 2016)
HES surveyed Wildshaw Burn stone circle on 9 November 2016 with GNSS. A plan was produced in vector graphics software from the resultant GNSS linework at a scale of 1:250.
