Description

The monument comprises a standing stone of prehistoric date, visible as an upstanding monument, together with two other stones which lie buried nearby.

The monument was first scheduled in 1929, but an inadequate area was included to protect all of the archaeological remains. The present rescheduling rectifies this.

The standing stone is an imposing block of whinstone, located some 220m N of Balnaguard Farm at c.70m OD. The stone, still occasionally referred to as Clach na Croiche, stands about 2.1m high. When surveyed in 1971, seven cup marks were revealed irregularly placed across the base of the S face of the stone.

Two prostrate stones lie buried nearby, 7.8m and 12.15m E of the stone respectively. If these two stones are fallen standing stones, as seems likely, then the three stones together would originally have formed a stone row with an E-W alignment. The two prostrate stones were exposed and examined in 1971. The more westerly of the two was 2.3m in length; the other stone was 2.5m long and a single cup mark was observed on the E side of its upper surface.

About 1887, a food vessel was found in a cist 'near the stone still standing'. In 1969, the farmer dislodged the capstone of another short cist, some 12m NW of the standing stone, which was subsequently excavated. Amongst the finds was a fine beaker, inverted in the corner of the cist.

The monument relates to ritual and funerary activity of Neolithic or Bronze Age date.

The area proposed for scheduling includes the remains described and an area around within which related material may be expected to survive. It comprises a circle 30m in diameter, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography
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Source: Historic Environment Scotland