Glen Almond

Foulford, Fowlis Wester, Perthshire

18/09/202418/09/2024 megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 89986 26994

Also Known as:

Connachan Lodge

Take the A85 road east out of Crieff and after roughly 2 miles at Gilmerton, turn left up the A822 Dunkeld road. Go along here for nearly 2½ miles, where you’ll reach the Foulford golf course on the right-hand side of the road. Directly opposite the entrance into the golf course, a dirt-track leads you into the fields where, laying alone and standing out like a sore thumb about 300 yards away, you’ll see a large rounded boulder sitting there minding it’s own business. You can see it quite clearly from the roadside. Nice n’ easy.

Archaeology & History

For such a large conspicuous stone, you’d think there’d be quite a lot written about it as well as hope for a good ornate design—but alas!, both hopeful expectations are lacking. Although, as usual, there’s more to it than is described in the official records—although not much more….

As you walk towards it, it seems as if a rounded earthfast boulder is in front of you, but once you reach it you realise that it’s nothing of the sort. Indeed, the more you looked at the stone, the more it seems as if it might have stood upright not too many centuries ago; the prevalence of other standing stones in the area being well known. But, along the spine of this long stone, a number of cup-marks speak out to you: at least seven of them, perhaps eight. There are a number of smaller “cups” roughly along the same length of stone, but these are Nature’s handiwork; but, it looks as if one or two of the man-made cups might have started their lives as Nature’s indentations and been worked into the symbols that still remain to this day.

The official records tell us of the cup-marks, but says nothing of the faint but distinct rings around two or three of the cups. The most notable one, albeit faint, is near the southeastern part of the stone, where the ring seems to be an artistic partnership of Nature and man. You can make out in the photo, albeit not too clearly. Nearer to the middle of the stone at least one of the cups has a semi-circle around it and, just to the side of it, a natural crack in the stone has been enhanced and carved into a short line. On the whole, it’s not a visually impressive carving and is troublesome to see if the lighting isn’t right (as usual), but is worth having a look at if you’re in the area. Very little’s been written about it apart from brief notes of it in the regional megalithic surveys of both Finlayson (2010) and Watson (2006).

References:

Finlayson, Andrew, The Stones of Strathearn, One Tree Island: Comrie 2010.
Watson, David, A Simple Introduction to the Stone Circles and Standing Stones of Perthshire, Photoprint 2006.

Acknowledgements: Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.

Stroness (1), Fowlis Wester, Perthshire

14/09/202415/09/2024 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 91981 26817

Also Known as:

Buchanty Hill

Getting Here

Take the same direction as if you’re visiting the Ardoch (2) carving, starting from the Foulford golf course on the A822, roughly halfway between Gilmerton and the entrance to the Sma’ Glen. From here, take the track eastwards into the hills and literally ¾-mile along you reach the pylon; keep going along the same track for another 200 yards and on your left watch out for the track-cum-footpath going up the slope past Ardoch (2), onto the hilltop, then through the gate and down the path northeast for about ⅔-mile until you reach the burn. Keep going uphill for 80 yards and through the cronky gate, head 70 yards to your left to the large single rounded boulder.

Archaeology & History

One of several petroglyphs in the area, this is the most notable in terms of its size. It rests just below the two Stroness hut circles which sit on the small level piece of ground nearly 100 yards further up the slope. A considerable scatter of cup-marks cover much of the upper surface of the boulder, some faint, some not so faint, with a number of them painted in a slight cover of lichens at the topmost section of the rock. The carving was first described somewhat blandly by George Currie (2004), who simply wrote:

“Large boulder, 2 x 2m, just W of hut circles; 16+ cups, 40–50 x 14–20mm.”

It’s actually south of the hut circles; and there are certainly more than sixteen cup-marks, as the photos here indicate. At the time of my visit here recently, the sun was falling and was just below the level that permitted a perfect highlighting of the cup-marks, but there seemed to be at least 25 of them, scattered in no particular order over much of its upper surface. One curiosity that seemed apparent was a long carved line running along a long slender edge along on the southern side of the stone, from a large cup-mark down to near the southwestern edge, meeting another smaller cupmark. I not 100% certain that it’s actually been carved and it may just be one of Nature’s scratches along the rock, but it does seem to have that “man-made” stamp on it. Another visit in differing light will show us one way or the other.

References:

Currie, George, ‘Buchanty Hill (Fowlis Wester parish): Cup-marked Rocks’, in Discovery & Excavation Scotland, volume 5, 2004.

Stroness, Fowlis Wester, Perthshire

13/09/202414/09/2024 megalithix

Hut Circles: OS Grid Reference – NN 9201 2689

Getting Here

If you’re coming here you’re obviously making a day out of it! You’ll be taking the shortest route to the Ardoch (2) petroglyph, via the Foulford golf course along the A822, roughly halfway between Gilmerton and the entrance to the Sma’ Glen. From here, take the track eastwards into the hills, and literally ¾-mile along you reach the pylon; keep along the same track for another 200 yards and on your left watch out for the track-cum-footpath going up the slope past the petroglyph, onto the hilltop, then through the gate and down the path for about ⅔-mile until you reach the burn. On the other side, go through the gate and 100 yards uphill through another one, walk immediately to your left alongside the fence. About 20 yards from the wall, look at the ground. Zigzag about!

Archaeology & History

Two distinct but very overgrown hut circles sit next to each other on the first ridge above the burn. When they were first built—sometime in the Bronze Age most likely—the landscape here was slightly different to what we see today. Scattered woodland of hazel, birch and Scots pine lived all across these hills and the small burn 100 yards below would have been much faster flowing, with trout and smaller fish in plentiful supply. The large cup-marked stone between the burn and these huts would have had some magico-religious meaning to the people living here. Indeed, it may have been carved by the people who built the huts, or they might have rested here due to its presence. I point out these simple ingredients to give a little more life to a site which, today, seems so isolated, lonely and unimpressive. It’s essential that we paint the history of this and all our ancient monuments with the colourful shades they lived within: of the forests and their animals, so as to give these seemingly bland lifeless remains a feeling in order to rekindle their history.

Apart from the large petroglyph less than 100 yards below, these hut circle are apparently in isolation if we go by the record books. And they’re difficult to make out when the grasses are tall—as they were when I visited recently. They are both roughly the same size—about 11 yards across—and, most likely, each housed a small family. The one closest to the wall is the slightly smaller of the two. It was first reported by Miss Comrie (1972) who initially only noticed one of the two huts—probably due to the long grasses. She told that,

“On an area known as Buchanty Hill at 1000ft is a hut circle with a diameter of 11mand wall width of 2m. Situated in a hollow, sheltered from the north and with an entrance on the downward-side facing south. The walling has no obvious inner or outer facing.”

On my visit to this place, the silence was deafening and the fading daylight painted the hills with a stunning velvet breath all across the veil of Her body. It’s a gorgeous isolated place that you might aswell sit down with after you’ve finished looking at the rock art…

References:

Comrie, J.E.M., “Fowlis Wester Parish: Hut Circle,” in Discovery & Excavation, Scotland, 1972.

Allt Geal Chairn, Amulree, Perthshire

20/09/202320/09/2023 megalithix

Standing Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 89079 34041

Getting Here

Take the A822 road to the northeast of Crieff and head 4-5 miles along until you enter the Sma’ Glen. You go past Ossian’s Stone and after crossing the river past the Newton Bridge enclosure, the road starts to go uphill. Nearly 2 miles up, the road levels out and at the left-side of the road is a small thin car-parking spot. Keep your eyes peeled out for it! From here, walk back down the road for nearly 250 yards until your reach a gate into the fields on your right. By now you should already be able to see the stone in the field, barely 100 yards away to the southwest.

Archaeology & History

Standing within the impressive landscape of the Perthshire mountains, this 4-foot-tall monolith is a seemingly solitary fella, sliced almost straight down one side—like so many of its regional compatriots—not far from the edge of General Wade’s military road. Not much more can be said of the old thing. The petroglyphic cluster of Corrymuckloch begins less than half-a-mile to the north; and, in all likelihood, other prehistoric sites will exist close by that aren’t yet in the archaeological registers…

Acknowledgments: Thanks to my long-suffering daughter Naomi, for taking me up for a quick break to see this old stone…

Corrymuckloch (14), Amulree, Perthshire

20/07/202320/07/2023 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 89253 35346

Getting Here

Take the A822 road to the northeast of Crieff and head 4-5 miles along until you enter the Sma’ Glen. You go past Ossian’s Stone and after crossing the river the road starts to go uphill. Nearly 2 miles up, the road levels out and at the left-side of the road is a small thin car-parking spot. Keep your eyes truly peeled for that! Go through the gate and turn right (north), up the grassy slope. Follow this footpath (known as General Wade’s road) straight past Corrymuckloch Farm until, about 250 yards on, the track splits. Take the left track and nearly 500 yards along walk up the embankment on your left and look around (if you reach the gate you’ve gone too far).

Archaeology & History

This stone was rediscovered in July 2023 during a cursory survey of other carvings in the Corrymuckloch cluster (17 and counting!). Most of the stone was covered in vegetation when first found, with just a single cupmark near its crown ensuring it got more attention. Altogether there are 10 or 11 cup-marks of varying levels of erosion across the length and breadth of the rock. The most notable one is on the northwest side of the stone, it being twice the size of the others and of much greater depth. It may originally have been a natural depression that was enhanced when the stone was carved. This larger cup has a smaller one attached just above it.

An intriguing find was noted all along the western edge of the rock, where upwards of a hundred small pieces of quartz—the majority of it crystal clear—were scattered between the stone edge and the soil. This is an ingredient that’s been noted at a number of petroglyphs in Scotland.

Corrymuckloch (2), Amulree, Perthshire

20/07/202320/07/2023 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 89037 34706

Getting Here

Take the A822 road to the northeast of Crieff and head 4-5 miles along until you enter the Sma’ Glen. You go past Ossian’s Stone and after crossing the river the road starts to go uphill. Nearly 2 miles up, the road levels out and at the left-side of the road is a small thin car-parking spot. Keep your eyes truly peeled for that! Walk through the gate and along the track (west) for 300 yards until you reach the fence. Once here, walk right (north) and go through the gate less than 50 yards away. Less than 300 yards ahead of you you’ll see a small rock outcrop. Get to it!

Archaeology & History

Rediscovered in July 2023, on this small rock outcrop it seems that only the lower east section has been carved, and it can be pretty difficult to see beneath the old layers of lichen that’s been painted across its surface. Comprising of just four cup-marks close to each other on the top of the stone, there’s a possible fifth cup to be seen on its northeast length. It’s nowt special to look at to be honest, but it’s worth checking out when you’re looking at the others in this cluster. In truth, this is another that’s only gonna be of interest to the real geeks amongst you!

Well of the Mosses, Glen Almond, Perthshire

14/12/201806/08/2019 megalithix

Healing Well: OS Grid Reference – NN 82865 33096

Getting Here

Spring of the Mosses

Take the dirt-track up Glen Almond for 3½ miles until you reach the standing stone of Clach an Tiompan. The giant long cairn of the same name is just above the track on the other side. Walk past this and start walking uphill, diagonally, until a few hundred yards up, a ridge levels out with some unrecorded habitation sites upon it. The clear waters of this spring are on the eastern edge of this ridge.

Archaeology & History

A little-known spring of water found on the slopes immediately above the giant Clach an Tiompan long cairn. Beautifully clear water emerges from beneath a large rock that rests by an ancient pathway running across the mountain-slope, used by the local people who lived here before the genocide of The Clearances. When we visited the place recently, the waters were low, but still running, and the mosses which reach along the length of the burn were almost iridescent in the evening sunlight.

The living glows of moss & water

Looking upstream to its source

Upon drinking here, there was that subtle sweetness to the waters, typical of many moss-clad sites, indicating it to have that typical medicinal virtue as a place to renew or revitalise your low-sugar energies after you’ve finished your meditation and rest, gazing within the enchanting mountains in which you are being held. It’s a truly wonderful little site!

Conichan East, Glen Almond, Perthshire

11/12/201829/07/2019 megalithix

Settlement: OS Grid Reference – NN 84645 32074 — NEW FIND

Getting Here

The setting of the remains

Park up and walk the long estate track up Glen Almond for nearly three miles until, on your left, you’ll see a small pond. From here, walk up the slope and, about 100 yards above you, note the large solitary boulder ahead, above the dyke of a small walled stream, where the land levels out. Just past the rock itself is the first of several remains.

Archaeology & History

First things first: the grid-reference cited here is centred upon the largest of several rings of stone found on this small grassy plateau, 150 yards north above the River Almond, just past the huge boulder. It’s an impressive site – and a previously unrecorded one.

The raised ring of Conichan

Looking southeast

At least three large hut circles can be clearly seen on this small ridge, amidst a sea of prehistoric sites scattered all down this lonely Scottish glen. When Paul Hornby, Lara Domleo and I meandered up here the other day (to visit the Clach na Tiompan megaliths), extensive prehistoric walling called my nose up the slopes to see if anything was hiding away—and a large prehistoric ring, more reminiscent of the Derbyshire stone circles and ring cairns than any hut circle, appeared before me.

The first and largest that I came across is the one immediately north of the huge boulder (which may have slight traces of ancient walling running up to it). The large ring is clearly raised onto a flat level platform, with an entrance on its southern edge. The ring itself measures, from outer-wall to outer-wall some 12 yards wide (E-W) and 11 yards N-S. The northernmost section of the walling or stone embanked structure is built into the sloping hill to the rear, with the east and western walls constructed simply onto the flat land. The walling itself is typical of prehistoric structures, comprising the usual mass of small stones packed within a number of larger upright stones; although much of it is very overgrown with centuries of vegetation. The walling that constitutes the ring itself is between 1-2 yards across and about two-feet high above the present ground-level.

Second circular remains

…and from another angle

To the east of this is a smaller, roughly circular construction of similar form. The rocks that make up this site are much more visible and may have been robbed and used in the more extensive walling above and the dykes below. It is unclear whether the nature of this site is the same as that of the more defined circular enclosure we have just described.

The remains of a third structure was clearly evident a short distance to the east of this, but I didn’t have much time here and another visit is needed to make further assessments. Iron Age walling and other undocumented prehistoric remains were also found close by.

Acknowledgements: Many thanks to the noses of little Lara Domleo and Prof. Paul Hornby for their bimbling aid to relocate this site – and one or two others that have been off the radar for many-a-century.

Auchnafree, Glen Almond, Perthshire

11/12/201822/07/2019 megalithix

Standing Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 8225 3336 — NEW FIND

Getting Here

Auchnafree Stones, looking east

Walk up the long track of beautiful Glen Almond, past the East Conichan circle and past the giant tomb of Clach na Tiompan. After about 4.2 miles (6.8km), the track diverges: take the one directly west, over the old bridge, and less than 100 yards past here, note the gate on your right. Go into the field and start walking uphill until you’re at the highest point a few hundred yards up. You’ll find the stones in front of you.

Archaeology & History

Auchnafree Stones, looking NW

Somewhat reminiscent in style and form to the standing stones at Dumgoyach, north of Glasgow, this one upright monolith and its seemingly fallen companion have not previously been recorded by archaeologists—but it is quite a distance away from anywhere. The upright stone is about one metre tall and its lumbered companion about four feet long. The remains of a small stone, probably broken from the larger mass, extended beyond the long stone. Another unrecorded standing stone can be found on another hillock a few hundred yards from here.

Glenshervie Burn, Glen Almond, Perthshire

02/12/201804/08/2019 megalithix

Ring Cairn: OS Grid Reference – NN 82614 32996

Also Known as:

Canmore ID 25565
River Almond

Getting Here

The ruins of Glenshervie Circle

Take the dirt-track, off-road, up to the start of Glen Almond, for more than 4 miles — past the curious Conichan Ring, and past the standing stone of Clach an Tiompan, until you see the large modern walled circle in the field on your left. Go into that field and you’ll notice a ruined pile and small standing stones 56 yards (51m) WSW. Y’ can’t really miss it!

Archaeology & History

Sitting upon a flat grassland plateau close to the confluence of the Glenshervie Burn with the River Almond, the visitor here will notice an overgrown ovoid mass of old worn stones in the form of a prehistoric cairn, with two upright standing stones on the western edges of the pile. This is the remains of what the megalithic magus Aubrey Burl (1988) called the Glenshervie “four poster” stone circle.

Glenshervie stones, looking N

Glenshervie stones, looking W

Structurally similar to the neighbouring four-poster of Clach an Tiompan 470 yards (427m) to the ESE, and less damaged than the remaining megaliths of Auchnafree 568 yards (520m) to the northwest, this megalithic ruin was first mentioned in passing by Audrey Henshall (1956) in her survey of the giant Clach an Tiompan tomb and its adjacent ring. She told that,

“In meadowland beside the Almond, a small circle of standing stones, hitherto unrecorded, protrude through the water-worn material of a low cairn. This is a similar type of monument to the ruined site at Clach na Tiompan.”

Close-up of cairn & stones

Glenshervie ruins, looking S

Indeed it is! Sadly however, it remains unexcavated — so we know not what its precise nature and function may have been. When Burl included the site in his 1988 survey, he could add nothing more than I can; but curiously described the two standing stones here as being only “about 1 ft (30cm) high.” They’re between two and three feet tall respectively, and the remaining cairn is between 5 and 6 yards in diameter, with the central rubble rising between 1 and 2 feet above the natural ground level.

The landscape at the point where this circle was built enables you to look up and down the glens of Almond and Shervie in three different directions. Whether or not this was deliberate, we cannot know for sure. But the setting on the whole, in the middle of where the glen widens out and hold this and the nearby monuments, is a beautiful setting indeed…

References:

Burl, Aubrey, Four Posters: Bronze Age Stone Circles of Western Europe, BAR 195: Oxford 1988.
Henshall, Audrey & Stewart, M.E.C., “Excavations at Clach na Tiompan, Wester Glen Almond, Perthshire,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 88, 1955.