Strichen Stone Circle


Strichen Stone Circle is a small Megalithic stone circle located in the north east of Scotland, near Strichen, Aberdeenshire.
Strichen Stone Circle stands on a hill near Strichen House. In 1773 it was visited by James Boswell and Samuel Johnson, as the lexicographer was interested in seeing a "druid's temple". They found only the recumbent stone with its flankers, and one other stone. The arrangement was completely destroyed around 1830, and again, after reconstruction, in 1960. On both occasions the stones were completely removed. On one occasion the stones were removed by a tenant farmer who was ordered to replace then by his landlord. The site was excavated in 1975, and again in 1980-82 when the circle was re-erected.
The circle contains the remains of a ruined ring-cairn. Excavation finds have included a cremation and urn, a cup-marked stone, and a damaged cist. The stony bank around the circle was found to have been strewn with quartz chippings. Within the ring of the present day circle, there were what appeared to be the postholes of an earlier timber ring. The recumbent measures about in length by in height and is situated on the south-south-east of the ring.
Between 1980 and 1982 reconstruction stones were located in the original stoneholes and their height grading was recreated. It is uncertain, however, that each stone was returned to its original position. By 1999 one of the stones re-erected in 1982 had fallen over.