This is a list of stone circles located in the Scottish Borders council area of Scotland. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland records 16 stone circles in the Scottish Borders. Of these, three are marked as 'possible'. [1] Aubrey Burl's gazetteer lists the same number: 2 in Berwickshire; 2 in Peebleshire; 10 in Roxburghshire; and 2 in Selkirkshire. [2]
The best preserved sites are the following:
Name | Image | Grid reference Coordinates | Former county Parish | Notes |
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Borrowston Rig | NT 5576 5231 55°45′44″N2°42′23″W / 55.762151°N 2.70649°W | Berwickshire Lauder |
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Burgh Hill | NT 4701 0624 55°20′50″N2°50′13″W / 55.347361°N 2.837066°W | Roxburghshire Teviothead |
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Cloyhouse Burn | NT 1795 3956 55°38′34″N3°18′18″W / 55.64268°N 3.305066°W | Peeblesshire Stobo |
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Five Stanes | NT 7526 1686 55°26′42″N2°23′33″W / 55.445025°N 2.392557°W | Roxburghshire Hownam |
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Five Stone Field | NT 7737 2922 55°33′22″N2°21′37″W / 55.556185°N 2.360216°W | Roxburghshire Linton |
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Harelaw, Fairnington | NT 66 28 55°32′57″N2°31′57″W / 55.549043°N 2.532515°W | Roxburghshire Roxburgh |
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Harestanes | NT 1240 4432 55°41′04″N3°23′41″W / 55.684468°N 3.394734°W | Peeblesshire Kirkurd |
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Harestanes Cottages | NT 64 24 55°30′47″N2°33′49″W / 55.512961°N 2.563698°W | Roxburghshire Ancrum |
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Kirktonhill | NT 470 543 55°46′46″N2°50′45″W / 55.779557°N 2.845751°W | Berwickshire Channelkirk |
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Megget Reservoir | NT 17904 21685 55°28′55″N3°18′02″W / 55.482056°N 3.300557°W | Selkirkshire Yarrow |
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Ninestone Rig | NY 5175 9731 55°16′03″N2°45′39″W / 55.267615°N 2.760791°W | Roxburghshire Castleton |
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Oxnam Parish | NT 75 16 55°26′30″N2°23′20″W / 55.441758°N 2.38881°W | Roxburghshire Oxnam |
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Plenderleith | NT 740 118 55°24′00″N2°24′41″W / 55.399901°N 2.411294°W | Roxburghshire Oxnam |
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Redden | NT 7744 3790 55°38′03″N2°21′35″W / 55.634179°N 2.35982°W | Roxburghshire Sprouston |
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Stobo Mill | NT 1755 3700 55°37′11″N3°18′38″W / 55.619617°N 3.310651°W | Peeblesshire Stobo |
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Yadlee | NT 6540 6732 55°53′52″N2°33′17″W / 55.897796°N 2.554795°W | Berwickshire Spott |
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Swinside, which is also known as Sunkenkirk and Swineshead, is a stone circle lying beside Swinside Fell, part of Black Combe in southern Cumbria, North West England. One of around 1,300 recorded stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany, it was constructed as a part of a megalithic tradition that lasted from 3,300 to 900 BC, during what archaeologists categorise as the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages.
The Callanish IV stone circle is one of many megalithic structures around the better-known Calanais I on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. It is a scheduled monument and its official name is Sron a'Chail. The site was first surveyed and recorded by RCAHMS in 1914 and again in 2009, with another survey in the 1970s by other archaeologists, but no known archaeological excavations have taken place at the stones.
Sunhoney is a stone circle of the recumbent type, which is common in the Grampian region, in particular at the River Dee. Sunhoney is situated about 2 km west of Echt in Aberdeenshire, near to the Cullerlie and Midmar stone circles. It is designated a scheduled ancient monument
The Twelve Apostles is a large stone circle located between the villages of Holywood and Newbridge, near Dumfries, Scotland. It is the seventh largest stone circle in Britain and the largest on the mainland of Scotland. It is similar in design to the stone circles of Cumbria, and is considered to be an outlier of this group. Its south-westerly arrangement aligns it with the midwinder sunset.
Machrie Moor Stone Circles is the collective name for six stone circles visible on Machrie Moor near the settlement of Machrie on the Isle of Arran, Scotland.
The stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany are a megalithic tradition of monuments consisting of standing stones arranged in rings. These were constructed from 3300 to 900 BCE in Britain, Ireland and Brittany. It has been estimated that around 4,000 of these monuments were originally constructed in this part of north-western Europe during this period. Around 1,300 of them are recorded, the others having been destroyed.
The Nine Stones, also known as the Devil's Nine Stones, the Nine Ladies, or Lady Williams and her Dog, is a stone circle located near to the village of Winterbourne Abbas in the southwestern English county of Dorset. Archaeologists believe that it was likely erected during the Bronze Age.
Ninestane Rig is a small stone circle in Scotland near the English border. Located in Roxburghshire, near to Hermitage Castle, it was probably made between 2000 BC and 1250 BC, during the Late Neolithic or early Bronze Age. It is a scheduled monument and is part of a group with two other nearby ancient sites, these being Buck Stone standing stone and another standing stone at Greystone Hill. Settlements appear to have developed in the vicinity of these earlier ritual features in late prehistory and probably earlier.
Easthill stone circle, also known as the Seven Grey Stanes, is a small oval stone circle 3¾ miles south-west of Dumfries. Eight stones of a probable nine remain. Despite being considerably smaller, the shape and orientation of the circle link it to the nearby Twelve Apostles and the other large ovals of Dumfriesshire. It is a scheduled monument.
The Loupin Stanes is a stone circle near Eskdalemuir, Dumfries and Galloway. Oval in shape, it consists of twelve stones set on an artificial platform. At the WSW of the circle are two large pillars, which are typical of the 'entrance circles' of south-west Scotland. The circle takes its name from the tradition of leaping between the tops of these two stones.
The Girdle Stanes is a stone circle near Eskdalemuir, Dumfries and Galloway. The western portion of the circle has been washed away by the White Esk, leaving 26 of an original 40 to 45 stones in a crescent. Unlike the majority of such sites in Dumfriesshire, the Girdle Stanes forms a true circle rather than an oval. When complete, its diameter would have been 39m.
Killin Stone Circle is a prehistoric stone circle situated at the west end of Loch Tay near the village of Killin, Stirling, Scotland. It is a scheduled monument.
The Goatstones is a Bronze-Age four-poster stone circle located near Ravensheugh Crags in Northumberland, England. It is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the north of Hadrian's Wall in the parish of Wark-on-Tyne. The name is thought to be derived from the Saxon "gyet stanes" meaning "wayside stones". The monument probably had some kind of religious purpose.
Kealkill stone circle is a bronze age axial five-stone circle located just outside the village of Kealkill, County Cork in southwest Ireland. When it was excavated in 1938 it was thought the crucial axial stone indicated an alignment to the north, contrary to the general alignment of such stone circles to the southwest. However, later archaeologists have thought it is the comparatively insignificant stone to the southwest that is the axial stone. There are two associated standing stones nearby, one of which had fallen and was re-erected in 1938.
Loanhead of Daviot stone circle is a recumbent stone circle in Aberdeenshire in lowland northeast Scotland. The circle consists of the recumbent stone with its flankers and a complete set of eight orthostats about 21 metres (69 ft) in diameter surrounding a low kerbed ring cairn which has an open court. However, the present appearance has in part been produced by substantial restoration after archaeological excavation in 1934, and in 1989 by the removal of the stones covering the central court.
Dunnideer stone circle is a mostly destroyed recumbent stone circle located near Insch in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The three remaining stones lie close to the ruins of Dunnideer Castle. It is a scheduled monument.
Tyrebagger stone circle is located at Dyce, near to Aberdeen in Scotland. It is a complete recumbent stone circle. It was used as a cattle pound in the past and now stands close to the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route. It is a scheduled monument since 1925.
The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany.