West Lomond Hill
Cairn (Period Unassigned), Cinerary Urn
Site Name West Lomond Hill
Classification Cairn (Period Unassigned), Cinerary Urn
Alternative Name(s) Wester Upper Urquhart
Canmore ID 27786
Site Number NO10NE 30
NGR NO 1972 0663
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/27786
- Council Fife
- Parish Strathmiglo
- Former Region Fife
- Former District North East Fife
- Former County Fife
NO10NE 30 1972 0663.
(NO 1972 0663) Cairn (NR)
OS 6" map (1959)
This large cairn is situated on the summit of West Lomond, at 1712 OD. Various attempts to explore it have been made; Millar mentioning bones having been found at a depth of 6 or 7ft. When visited by the RCAHMS, the cairn was much scattered, and its original characteristics destroyed or obliterated. It stood 10' high, and measured 88' N-S by 96' transversely. Small, writing in 1822, says the cairn "includes a space of 360' round the circle of stones, about 2' thick at the extremity - placed in such a way as not to spread out or scatter - resembling a sunk fence, and thickening and accumulating along to the centre of the top, where they appear to be between 20 - 30' thick".
RCAHMS 1933, visited 1925; Miller 1857; A Small 1823
A fragment of a cinerary urn from West Lomond (? from this cairn) is in St Andrews Museum.
D H Fleming 1931
As described by RCAHMS.
Resurveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (DWR) 6 April 1972
Field Visit (11 June 1925)
Cairn, West Lomond.
This large cairn, which lies on the crest of the West Lomond, at a height of 1712 feet above sea-level, overlooks an extensive stretch of what is now highly cultivated country. Various attempts to explore it have been made, but so far the particular class to which it should be assigned remains doubtful. As a result of these unsuccessful efforts, however, it has been much scattered, and its original overground characteristics have been destroyed or obliterated. In its present condition it rises to a height of approximately10 feet, while the over-all dimensions are 88 feet from north to south and 96 feet from east to west. Small, writing in 1822, says that the cairn "includes a space of 360 feet round the circle of stones, about two feet thick at the extremity, - placed in such a way as not to spread out or scatter-resembling a sunk fence, and thickening and accumulating along to the centre of the top, where they appear to be betwixt 20 and 30 feet thick” (1).
The construction is not marked on the O.S. map (xix.NW) as an antiquity.
RCAHMS 1933, visited 11 June 1925.
(1) Interesting Roman Antiquities in Fife, p.l06.