Hiking Around Loch Kinard, Then Finding Tomnaverie Stone Circle by Chance

It was a cool, cloudy day with periods of rain.

Our purpose in hiking around Loch Kinard was to find an Iron Age village which had been excavated in the 1970's.  If there was time, we would hike on to a Celtic Cross and view the two island in the middle of the loch, one the remains of an Iron Age fort, the other with the base of a castle.

Fungi

Hike we did.  We found the Loch, ferns, fungi, cows, water lilies, black slugs and beautiful scenery.  We did not find any of the places we were looking for, even after a 3 mile walk; sometimes in the rain, always in the wind.

The ferns were over 6 feet tall.

A black slug stretched out and moving.

Curled up to look like a snail.

One huge bull in a pasture of cows.

We did have a good time, though!

Tomnaverie Stone Circle in the rain.

Arriving back at our car, in the rain, I took the time to look at our map.  There just around the corner, was another place of interest.  As it was on the way on anyway, we decided to see if we had better luck finding Tomnaverie Stone Circle.  Not only did we find it, there was a clearly marked car park.

Did I mention it was raining?

Bundled up against the wind and the rain, we trudged up the rather steep hillside. Why did they always build these things on top of the hill?  It was worth the walk. The place has great views and the stones are wonderful.  Some days, even if you don't find what you were originally looking for, you may find what you need!

The Stone Circles of Aberdeenshire

In our travels, we are always looking for prehistory places.  They are not always easy to find; sometimes being down unpaved one lane tracks, or across a cow field, as in Northern Ireland.  We don't always succeed, but when we do, it's usually worth the effort.

Map showing some of the locations of the Stone Circles.

The stone circles in Aberdeenshire are of a unique design, the Recumbent Stone Circle.  Found almost exclusively here, there are more than 70 examples have been recorded, with diameters ranging from 11m to 26m.  These are from the Bronze Age, the third and second millennia BC.

Once we found them, there were very nice signs.

The Recumbent Stone with the flankers.

From the far side of the circle looking toward the Recumbent Stone

From The Stone Circle trail brochure:
"The distinctive feature of the Recumbent Stone Circle is a massive stone, laid horizontally on its side in the Southwestern or Southern arc of the circle, flanked by the two tallest stones of the circle.  The recumbent stones have an average weight of 24 tone, and were carefully levered and chocked-up to ensure that their upper surface was as level as possible."

This circle had a nice path, then we had to climb over a fence and walk through the sheep pasture to get to the circle.

The Strichen Stone Circle has been rebuilt.  A tenant farmer tore it down in 1830, but the land owner said to put it back.  He did, but not in the original place.  It was excavated in the 1979, and returned to it's original placement.

As with most of the other circles we have found, they are usually on the crests of hills or terrace, with wide views, in this instances to the Southwest.

Historic Scotland does have nice signs.

On the side of the road near the village of Memsie.

Also while driving around, we found the Memsie Round Cairn.  It has been excavated and put back.  There were apparently several cairns in the area, but this is the only one that survives.

The White Horse on Mormond Hill

Walking back to the car from Strichen Circle, we saw the White Horse of Mormond Hill.  It's not ancient, having been made in the 1790's.  The story goes that it was carved by a Captain Fraser in memory of Sargent Henderson, who gave him his horse after the Captain's was shot out from under him.  In the process, the Sargent was killed. The horse is made from white quartz.