Cromlix House
Cist (Bronze Age)
Site Name Cromlix House
Classification Cist (Bronze Age)
Canmore ID 24655
Site Number NN70NE 1
NGR NN 777 060
NGR Description NN c. 777 060
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/24655
- Council Stirling
- Parish Dunblane And Lecropt
- Former Region Central
- Former District Stirling
- Former County Perthshire
NN70NE 1 c. 777 060.
A cist, 3ft 6ins long and about 2ft deep, of which only two ends, one side and part of the cover remained, was found in 1902 in cutting a drain in a field about 500 yds. west of Cromlix House (i.e. at c NN 777 060). The bottom consisted of stones covered with a shallow layer of clay, over which was a thin band of black earth, the remaining space being filled with silt.
J Robertson 1903.
Enquiries at Cromlix House and Cromlix Home Farm failed to produce further information regarding this cist.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 5 November 1968.
Note (1979)
Cromlix House NN 777 060 NN70NE 1
A cist was discovered 'about 500 yards (460m) west of Cromlix House' in 1902.
RCAHMS 1979
Robertson 1903
Publication Account (1994)
Thirteen round cairns were recorded during the survey, all probably of Bronze Age date. These are all situated towards the western part of the survey area, most of them sited at between 190m and 300m OD and showing a similar distribution to that of the neolithic tombs, with a concentration of five monuments at Black Park on lower ground, between 150m and 165m OD. All but one of the cairns are located either on prominent knolls or ridges or in situations offering an extensive outlook (although afforestation now makes this difficult to appreciate at Black Park), the exception being Annet Burn (NN60 NE 33), which sits on a level terrace beside the burn.
The cairns all appear as grass- or heather-covered mounds, most of them disturbed or robbed to some extent. In no case can an enclosing kerb be identified with certainty, although a robber-trench around the S and SW arcs of one of the Black Park cairns (NN 60 NE 15) may indicate the course of such a feature. On the basis of their size, two groups can be identified. Eight cairns measure between 4.5m and 8.5m in diameter and between 0.45m and 0.9m in height; the others range from 12.5m in diameter and 0.4m in height (Ballachraggan) to 21 m in diameter and 1.5m in height (Black Park, NN 60 NE 15). All but one are circular, the single exception being The Judge's Cairn, an oval mound measuring 20m in length by 17.5m in breadth and 1.8m in height, although here the shape may be the result of stone-robbing, The two groups show different patterns of distribution. With one exception, the smaller cairns are all to be found in areas of heather covered, often boggy, moorland; the example at Waterside, however, the smallest of all, sits on a prominent knoll which may belong to the Bronze Age. At Cromlix House in 1902 a damaged short cist was found during drainage operations, while the Statistical Account records that in c. 1783 'several cists' were found in a mound at Rosehall (Stat. Acct.; XX, 90), and stones 6ft (1.8m) long by 3ft (0.9m) wide were also discovered there around 1859 (Name Book 1863, No. 21, p.22).
RCAHMS 1994
