Monument record MAB16400 - CAIRN RIV / CARLIN STONE

Remains of a recumbent stone circle.

Remains of a recumbent stone circle. Cairn Riv was a 'dotted ring' and on the southern arc is an enormous stone named the Carlin Stone. There were three stones in a line, the Carlin stone being between two others quite small in comparison. This boulder, rugged, unshapely and most unusual in height, should be accepted as the recumbent of a circle which once existed here. Local information suggests the existence of a cairn here before 1901. After this stones were removed and used for building dykes. The site of this recumbent stone circle, which formerly enclosed a large cairn, falls near the east corner of a field of improved pasture. The position of the stone circle is now marked by little more than the large recumbent 'the Carlin Stone' although the circle may have measured in excess of 30 m in diameter. The recumbent faces south and is a block measuring some 3.6 m in length by 2.6 m in height. A support stone is visible beneath its east end.

ORDNANCE SURVEY, 1871, Ordnance Name Book, No19(1866) 29 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1360.

PRATT, JB, 1901, BUCHAN, 8 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1411.

COLES, FR, 1903, REPORT ON THE STONE CIRCLES OF NORTH-EASTERN SCOTLAND, CHIEFLY IN AUCHTERLESS AND FORGUE IN PSAS 37 (1903), 82-142, 122-4 (Bibliographic reference). SAB233.

JET BUTTON

MOW, 1962, A.M'S SCOT., 13 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1204.

Jan 1 1900 , BN 801, BN 801 (Ground Photograph). SAB20384.

Nov 14 1989 , MZ 34-37, MZ 34-37 (Ground Photograph). SAB33411.

Record last edited

Mar 20 2026 12:28PM