Crosswood 1
Cairn (Modern), Cup And Ring Marked Stone (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Site Name Crosswood 1
Classification Cairn (Modern), Cup And Ring Marked Stone (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Canmore ID 70012
Site Number NT05NE 12
NGR NT 06353 56601
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/70012
- Council West Lothian
- Parish West Calder
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District West Lothian
- Former County Midlothian
NT05NE 12 0639 5659
A Mr K Bowman and a Mr K Waldron have noted four cup-marked stones in a field clearance heap to the S of Crosswood Reservoir. One stone has double spirals, and a cup-mark with emanating chips and pecked edges. A further cup and ring-marked stone was found on top of the clearance heap. The local shepherd indicated that the stones had been put there some 15 years ago when the field was ploughed.
Information from letter from K Waldron, 1990.
Towards the W end of a patch of recently cleared ground, there is a pile of field-gathered boulders. Four of the boulders are decorated with motifs which include spirals, rings and cup-marks. The stones were gathered together in about the mid-1970's.
Visited by RCAHMS (JBS) 9 November 1990.
Note
Date Fieldwork Started: 1/11/2018
Location Notes: A large clearance cairn containing several possible carved stones including Crosswood 1 (Canmore 70012) lies in a field on the lower slopes of a W facing hillside, about 1km ESE of Mid Crosswood Farm and 500m SE of where the Crosswood Burn runs into Crosswood Reservoir. The cairn is formed of large boulders and is about 1.7m high and 5m long x 4m broad, and is presumably the result of mechanical field clearance. Crosswood 1 is a sub-rectangular boulder at the SE of the cairn and near the ground, with the carved surface facing S. It is possible that some of the stones in the clearance cairn have been removed from a prehistoric burial cairn. The cairn sits 25m NW of a field gate and fence with Crosswood Burn about 200m away and downhill, flowing between the cairn and Mid Crosswood Farm. There are three similar clearance cairns in the vicinity, Canmore 72638 lying 25m SE of Crosswood 1, Canmore 72637 and 70836 further to the W. An old railway carriage, Canmore 357474 also sits in the middle of the field below.
Panel Notes: This sub-rectangular panel (0.9m x 0.8m) has been quarried from an unknown site, with clear signs of chisel marks surviving on 2 of the sides. These are regular and unlike more recent quarry markings, and are possibly prehistoric. A groove runs around the edge of panel on the two sides with quarry marks, defining the shape of the panel and partly enclosing the motifs. The panel surface is relatively smooth, albeit with a few indistinct marks which may also have resulted from the quarrying process. There is one nearly complete ring, with modest damage, but no apparent cup mark. Above this motifs are two left-hand spirals, with evidence of a shallow cup, grouped next to one another. One has a long tail leading towards the edge of the rock surface. No tool or peck marks were visible in the carvings. As the panel was within a cairn, the N arrow on the Panel Sketch reflects its current orientation, and not its original location in the landscape.
