Strathclyde - Prehistoric Sites

Beside the trail that leads to the standing stones on Machrie Moor is this attractive little Bronze Age cairn surrounded by a stone circle. The Moss Farm circle (sometimes known as Machrie Moor 10) is the first prehistoric site you come to on the path to the more famous standing stones further east. It is probably not directly associated with the Machrie Moor stones but is a totally separate monument, erected at a different time.
Blackwaterfoot, Arran, Arran, Strathclyde, Scotland

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Photos of Moss Farm Road Stone Circles
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At Nether Largie two Bronze Age cairns and one Neolithic cairn (3000BC) form part of a linear cemetery running in a roughly north-south direction down the floor of Kilmartin Glen. There are 5 cairns in the cemetery, and a 6th just east of the southern end of the cemetery.
Kilmartin, Strathclyde, Scotland

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Heritage Highlight: The north cairn, with is cupmarks and axehead carvings
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A group of 5 standing stones in an X-shape, with the central stone being carved with cup and ring marks. The stones stand in a field just south of the Nether Largie cairns, in the centre of Kilmartin Glen.
Kilmartin, Strathclyde, Scotland

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Heritage Highlight: Cup and ring carvings on the central stone
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Ri Cruin is a Bronze Age burial cairn with the covering removed to view 3 large burial chambers (cists). The cairn is famous for the axe heads carved on one of the cist slabs.
Kilmartin, Strathclyde, Scotland

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A pair of standing stones, located just off the Scalasaig to Milbuie track. The stones are 10 yards apart. The largest is 3'3" in height, while the smaller of the pair stands only 2 feet high.
Colonsay, Scalasaig, Argyll and Bute, Strathclyde, Scotland

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A holy well said to have used by 6th-century Irish saint Columba when he settled briefly on Colonsay. Unlike many such saintly legends, this one has every chance of being true, as Columba is fairly certain to have visited Colonsay.

Balnahard, Isle of Colonsay, Strathclyde, Scotland

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Heritage Highlight: Holy well used by St Columba
Photos of St Columba's Well
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There are two stone circles at Temple Wood, dating to at least 3000 BCE. One unusual (though not unique) feature at Temple Wood is that the circle interiors are filled with a low mound of stones. One theory is that the infill was a way of 'decommissioning' the circle and negating its power.
Kilmartin Glen, Kilmartin, Strathclyde, Scotland

Attraction Type: Prehistoric - Stone circle
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Heritage Highlight: Two stone circles built at different times
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The Tobar Oran sculptured stone (alternately known as the Ruisg Buidhe stone) is an early Christian carved stone, or cross, found in the ruins of the deserted village of Ruisg Buidhe, on the northeast coast of Colonsay. The cross is believed to be late 7th or early 8th century, though an alternative date of the late 9th century has also been put forward.
Colonsay House, Kiloran, Isle of Colonsay, Strathclyde, Scotland

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Heritage Highlight: Early Christian carved cross, or sculptured stone
Photos of Tobar Oran Sculptured Stone
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Torr a'Chaisteal is a circular Iron Age fort on a ridge near the south western tip of Arran. The Dun is constructed with a double-skin wall up to 12 feet wide, enclosing an area 45 feet across. The walls are made with two sets of large blocks of sandstone in-filled with rubble.
Blackwaterfoot, Arran, Arran, Strathclyde, Scotland

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A Neolithic chambered cairn at Torrylin stands in a fabulous location looking south to the enigmatic peak of Ailsa Craig. There are four chambers at Torrylin, one of over 25 similar cairns on Arran. The cairn appears to align with Ailsa Craig. Coincidence?
Lagg, Arran, Arran, Strathclyde, Scotland

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Photos of Torrylin Cairn
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