The photo above is of the standing stones at Balbirnie, it’s a Neolithic site, dating from around 3,000 BC. I’ve only seen these stones once before, and that must have been about 30 years ago, I remember at the time that I was really disappointed to read that they had been relocated by Historic Scotland, apparently they were in the way of a road which needed to be widened.
It seems a very strange thing to do, surely stone circles were carefully positioned for a good reason, we don’t know what it was but to me it’s crazy to move them. It takes all the romance away somehow.
As you can see, houses have been built very close to the stones. I must admit that it gives me a bit of a kick to think that there were people farming 5,000 years ago in the area we now live in. I doubt if they were very much different from us.
You can read more about the Balbirnie Stone Circle here.
It does take away some of the romance to find out they’ve been moved, but at least the stones were preserved. I’d love to have them for a view!
Anbolyn,
Yes, I suppose they could have been bulldozed and buried so we should be thankful. I don’t quite have them for a view, but not far off it!
Does seem quite odd to move them.
Peggy,
Obviously road widening is more important than prehistoric monuments!
I don’t think you’ll be surprised when I say that I’m fascinated by stone circles and standing stones. It’s a shame that these stones were moved but then reading their history it seems the site has been disturbed in the past a number of times. At least some have been preserved! And it looks as though you can walk round them unlike Stonehenge these days.
Another circle that you can wander around is the Avebury Circle. I was really surprised when I discovered that it even has a road running through it. In the past there wasn’t the same feeling about history and preserving the past that we have today. So I suppose it’s amazing that anything has survived.
Margaret,
I loved visiting the Duddo stones, thanks to you blogging about them. I haven’t been to many places like that although I can see quite a lot of standing stones in Fife and Perthshire and luckily the farmers plough around them and have obviously been doing that for umpteen generations. There is another monument nearby too.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/glenrothes/balfarghenge/
When I visited Avebury’s stone circle, I remember hearing that farmers took many of the stones away because they got in the way of their agricultural plans. My sister lives in the Middle East currently, and the people who live there are quite used to all the ruins that populate their landscape – the dry climate preserves them so well, it’s amazing. To them, these ancient ancient structures are just part of the everyday.
Christy,
I think most of our really old places have been covered up by earth over the years, but I suppose a lot will be engulfed by sand in the Middle East. I’ve noticed that some old farm gateposts look like they’ve been made from standing stones, so not all farmers can have been so careful with them in the past.