Alternative Names Black Fauld; Guildtown
Site type STONE CIRCLE
Canmore ID 28639
Site Number NO13SW 15
NGR NO 1413 3167
Council PERTH AND KINROSS
Parish ST MARTINS
Former Region TAYSIDE
Former District PERTH AND KINROSS
Former County PERTHSHIRE

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Archaeological Notes

NO13SW 15 1413 3167.

(NO 1413 3167) Stone Circle (NR)
OS 6" map (1901)

The stone circle at Blackfaulds comprises 10 stones, and is 25'6" in diameter. Most of the stones have fallen, and it is difficult to say where the tallest has been. Scott says there were originally 2 circles in Blackfaulds Wood.
M E C Stewart 1965; A Scott 1911

Only nine stones of this circle can be considered to be in situ. Several others, lying on or about the circle, appear to be fragments or not earthfast. The second circle was not located.
Resurveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (RD) 21 February 1969

This stone circle lies immediately within the N edge of an area of sparse woodland some 390m SW of Blackfaulds steading. The circle comprises about ten stones set on an internal diameter of about 7.5m, although only two now remain upright. The circle is not an ellipse as previously indicated (Thom, Thom and Burl 1980), and is not one of a pair (Ibid); Burl has obviously referred to an earlier account by Scott (1911) which states that there were two stone-circles in the wood, but Scott may have misunderstood a still earlier reference (Baxter 1892), which refers to two stone circles on Brownie's Knowe (NO13SE 15). Although the majority of the stones are fallen, it is clear from their sizes that the tallest stones were on the S arc. It should be noted, however, that the large broken block on the SSW is flanked by two comparatively small stones.
The stones are described clockwise from the large broken block on the SSW:
Stone 1 (SSW) is a large angular block, which originally measured
at least 1.4m in height, but has now broken into at least four pieces; the stump measures 0.9m by 0.75m at ground level.
Stone 2 (WSW) is a small erect stone measuring 0.7m by 0.7m at the base, and 0.4m in height.
Stone 3 (W) is a long, angular stone which has fallen outwards and measures 1.5m in length by 1m in breadth, and at least 0.8m in thickness.
Stone 4 (WNW) is a large block which has also fallen outwards; it measures 1.4m by 1.15m, and at least 0.45m in thickness. There is an earthfast stone at the W end of this block but it does not match the broken end of the stone.
Stone 5 (NNW) is a fallen stone which measures 1.4m by 1.15m, and at least 0.3m in thickness.
Stone 6 (NE) is a fallen slab which measures 1.5m by 0.7m, and at least 0.6m in thickness.
Stone 7 (E) is a large rounded boulder which measures 1.2m by 1.2m and 0.7m in height; it may be in situ.
Stone 8 (SE) is an angular block which has fallen outwards; it measures 1.6m by 1.1m, and at least 0.7m in thickness.
Stone 9 (SSE) has fallen outwards and measures 1.8m in length by 1.1m in breadth, and 0.7m in thickness.
Stone 10 (S) This small stone is in situ but leans outwards; it measures 0.95m by 0.4m at the base, and 0.4m in height.
Visited by RCAHMS (JRS) 6 April 1989.

Baxter, G C (1892) 'Some unrecorded relics in the Parishes of Cargill, Scone, and St Martins', Proc Soc Antiq Scot, vol.26
Page(s): 223-4

Burl, {H} A {W} (1976a) The stone circles of the British Isles, London and New Haven
Page(s): 362 Held at RCAHMS E.7.BUR

RCAHMS (1994b) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. South-east Perth: an archaeological landscape, Edinburgh
Page(s): 31, 33, 151 Held at RCAHMS A.1.7.PER