Glassel Stone Circle (Torphins Stone Circle)

All pictures copyright © 2000 Martin McCarthy

A view from the southeast. The outlier is in the foreground and the four stones of the circle beyond. Large Image (116kb 914x678) A view from the southwest. Large Image (116kb 960x696) A sandstone slab can be seen between the northern pair of stones. Large Image (123kb 944x685) Looking from the east. (In case you're wondering, the white circle around the stones appears to be recently scattered human ashes) Large Image (192kb 1344x709) Looking from the north. Large Image (209kb 1224x831) Looking from the south (north is indicated by the arrow). Large Image (139kb 1176x681) Looking from the west. Large Image (193kb 1240x831) Looking from the south. Large Image (158kb 952x827)

This tiny but attractive stone circle stands in a clearing at the edge of a wood where the level ground falls away to a burn at the west. Four stones make a rectangle, with a fifth stone standing just outside and a number of slabs (which may be from a cist) lie at the north end. Each of the stones is around three feet tall and the rectangle they form measures about eight and a half by seven and a half feet. The centre of the circle was excavated in 1905 - only a piece of flint and some charcoal were found.