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Lochmaben Stone
Enclosure (Period Unknown)(Possible), Standing Stone(S) (Prehistoric), Stone Circle (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Site Name Lochmaben Stone
Classification Enclosure (Period Unknown)(Possible), Standing Stone(S) (Prehistoric), Stone Circle (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Alternative Name(s) Clochmaben Stone; Clochmabenstane; Locus Maponi; Old Graitney
Canmore ID 67441
Site Number NY36NW 25
NGR NY 31235 65982
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/67441
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish Gretna
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Annandale And Eskdale
- Former County Dumfries-shire
NY36NW 25 3123 6600 to 3122 6598.
(NY 3122 6598) Lochmaben Stone (NR)
OS 6" map (1957)
Lochmaben or Clochmaben Stone is an erratic, 7' high and 18' in girth, which Feachem says may have been incorporated into a megalithic monument, though there is no clear evidence of this. It was published on the OS 1st edition 6" as Druidical Circle (Remains of), which the Ordnance Name Book [ONB] states formerly consisted of nine upright stones placed in an oval, two of which remain, one being locally called Lochmaben Stone.
Name Book 1858; R W Feachem 1963.
In the 16th century, it was frequently used as the meeting place between the Scots and English wardens for the administration of justice, and in comparatively recent times local gatherings took place at this stone.
T I Rae 1966.
Richmond and Ross identify it with Locus (or meeting place) Maponi of the Ravenna Cosmography, Ross adding that possibly a shrine to the Celtic god Maponus existed here.
I A Richmond 1958; K A Steer 1958; A Ross 1967.
As stated by the Ordnance Name Book (ONB) two stones survive which may represent the remains of a stone circle. The larger of the two is still known as the Lochmaben Stone and is as described. The other stone at NY 3123 6600 stands c 1.0m high by 1.2m in diameter in a less conspicuous position in a fence.
Revised at 25".
Visited by OS (RD) 18 June 1970
No change to previous field report.
Visited by OS (JP) 20 February 1973.
Lochmaben Stone
Stone Circle [NR]
(remains of) [NAT]
OS 1:10,000 map, 1980.
In 1982 the stone fell over. Excavation prior to re-erection revealed that it had been set into a shallow pit. The stratigraphy was complex and the relationship between the fill of the pit and the original position of the stone itself could not be unequivocally determined. No artifacts were recovered but a sample of mixed quercus, salix and corylus charcoal from the lower fill of the stone-pit yielded a radiocarbon determination of 2525 +/- 85 bc (GU-1591).
A Crone 1983.
Field Visit (October 1980)
Lochmaben Stone NY 312 659 NY36NW 25
This standing stone, also known as the Clochmaben Stone, is situated 490m S of Old Graitney farmhouse and measures 2.3m in height. About 23m to the NNE there is a second, smaller, stone now incorporated in a modern fence-line, and it may be all that remains of an enclosure of 'about half an acre' noted in the 18th century. It has been suggested that the name Lochmaben is derived from the Celtic god Maponus, and that this was a cult centre.
RCAHMS 1981, visited October 1980
Stat. Acct, ix, 1793, 528; Macfarlane 1906-8, i, 385; RCAHMS 1920, pp. 92-3, No. 263;
Ross 1967, 363-4; Rivet and Smith 1979, 395-6)
Note (1997)
NY 3123 6600 NY36NW 25
Listed as 'Clochmaben Stone, standing stone, stone circle (possible)'.
RCAHMS 1997.
