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Alford
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North Strone NJ584138 |
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For keen walkers who don't mind going over a bit of rough ground, visit North Strone stone circle. About ½ a mile east of Alford follow the winding road to the left (south) passing Balfluig Castle. Take the first turning left at Little Endovie. North Strone is a couple fields up the hill on your left on the shoulder of the hill. Ask permission at farm to see the circle, which is in a clearing among tall dense thickets of broom. | |
| This strange circle has a low quartz recumbent stone to the south. Sixteen low irregular red granite stones make up the rest of the circle, all but four toppled. Excavation last century revealed seven graves within the circle, which is untypical of recumbent stone circles with its many small stones. A very similar circle is at Chapel o' Sink near Kemnay. The view from here is superb over to Bennachie and the Howe of Alford. The circle at Old Keig can be seen four miles away on a clear day. | ||
Old Keig NJ596194 |
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| To reach Old Keig, take the A944
Aberdeen/Alford road to Whitehouse. This is the nearest the buses come
so unless you want a long walk, its best to go by car. Go about four
miles north up the Whitehouse/Insch B992 road, crossing the River Don
at Castle Forbes, heading for the Keig crossroads. Go straight across;
onto the narrow road curving round to the left (W). You might be able
to see the stones from here, they are big enough to be seen from a long
way off. In a mile you come to Old Keig farm.
Ask permission here to go up to the circle. You can park at a small disused quarry up past the farm (overlooked by the Barmkyn of Keig hill fort). Walk down through a stony strip of trees between fields, usually inhabited by cows and calves. Although damaged and incomplete, this stone circle has a grandeur to it perhaps to it having the biggest recumbent stone of all, weighing an estimated 53 tons, defying any explanation as to how it was got there; thought to have been brought uphill from the river valley below. |
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This is tranquil place especially in summer, with a vista over the Howe of Alford, the surrounding fields colourful with wild flowers in July. The circle has been dug into over the centuries, first in 1692 when ashes were found in the now vanished central cairn. Only three stones remain standing, the rest fallen and crossed by walls on either side. First properly excavated in the 1930's, two scrapers, beaker, flat rimmed ware sherds, and a fragment of shale bracelet have been found. More sherds and pieces of bone were found near the centre of a later central cairn.
Cothiemuir NJ617198 |
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| A couple of miles to the east of Keig is the beautiful stone circle at Cothiemuir Wood. At the Keig crossroads turn north onto the B992 Insch road then take the first turning immediately on the right. This scenic but narrow road goes on towards The Lords Throat beauty spot with views of the Don. Just under ½ a mile on the left is Cothiemuir Hill covered in mixed woodland. Stop opposite the track on the left leading through the trees. Follow the track for about 300 m through oaks, honeysuckle and hollies - this place is best in summer - and you'll see the circle ahead in a clearing among firs. |  |
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| This circle is over 20 m across, lichen-covered, carpeted in heather, with seven of the 11 stones surviving and a cist-slab in the centre. The recumbent stone has three large cupmarks on the outer face, perhaps mapping ancient lunar positions. Each tall flanker seems to have been specially chosen for its individual shape, one a broad-based triangle, the other taller and broader at the top - perhaps personifying male and female characteristics. | ||
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