Description

The monument is a group of three separate stone settings likely to date from between 3000 BC and 1500 BC. The westernmost, known as the 'Crow Stones', comprises 18 small stones that form an oval shape on plan measuring 43m NW-SE by 33m transversely. A stone setting known as the 'Nine Stones' lies 760m to the ENE. It comprises nine stones of varied size that form an approximate circle 6.5m in diameter. The Kingside Burn stone setting lies 740m E of the Crow Stones and 300m S of the Nine Stones. It comprises seven stones set around the edge of a peat mound that measures about 3.8m E-W by 2.8m transversely by 0.3m high. Outlying stones lie 5m to the S and 10m to the N. The Crow Stones and the Nine Stones lie at 330m OD, the Kingside Burn setting at 305m OD. All the settings lie on S- or SE-facing ground; the Crow Stones and the Nine Stones have extensive views to the SE and S. The monument was first scheduled in 1987, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present rescheduling rectifies this.

There are three scheduled areas, corresponding to the three stone settings. They comprise: a circle of 70m diameter centred on the centre of the Crow Stones; a circle of 30m diameter centred on the centre of the Nine Stones; and a circle of 30m diameter centred on the centre of the Kingside Burn setting. The scheduling includes the three stone settings described above and areas around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes an electricity pylon that stands about 20m S of the Kingside Burn stone setting.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

This monument is of national importance because it can significantly enhance understanding of late Neolithic and early Bronze Age ritual and funerary activity in SE Scotland. The Crow Stones and the Nine Stones, in particular, retain their field characteristics to a marked degree and are visible as oval or circular circuits of upstanding stones. Stone circles and stone settings are very rare in East Lothian, yet these examples have enhanced significance because they are also part of a localised cluster of similar remains concentrated in this area of the Lammermuir Hills. Our understanding of the distribution, character and meaning of late Neolithic and early Bronze Age ritual and funerary sites in SE Scotland would be diminished if this monument were lost or damaged.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the component parts of the monument as NT66NW 2, 7, 14 and 20. The East Lothian Council HER references are MEL1397, 1403, 1404.

References

RCAHMS, 1924 The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Eighth report with inventory of monuments and constructions in the county of East Lothian, p 141-3. Edinburgh.

Thom, Thom and Burl, A, A S and H A W, 1980 'Megalithic rings: plans and data for 229 monuments in Britain', Brit Archaeol Rep, BAR British Ser, 81, p 306-7. Oxford.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland