<< Our Photo Pages >> Creag Bhreac Cairn - Cairn in Scotland in Cowal
Submitted by Iain_P on Saturday, 19 August 2017 Page Views: 2796
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Creag Bhreac CairnCountry: Scotland County: Cowal Type: Cairn
Nearest Town: Dunoon Nearest Village: Innellan
Map Ref: NS1495571532
Latitude: 55.901228N Longitude: 4.961428W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
Internal Links:
External Links:
I have visited· I would like to visit
SumDoood would like to visit
Thank goodness for GPS devices. How did people do it before? Here's the 10 figure reference in case you go there and find this as tricky as I did: NS 14955 71532. You will get very wet and muddy...
It's a scheduled monument, only discovered in 1991, and the HES site says:"The cairn is crescentic on plan and measures 5m from E to W by 3.5m transversely, with a forecourt of six upright slabs (up to 0.6m high) opening onto the N." And " The monument is of national importance because of its as yet unique form and for its potential to contribute to our understanding of prehistoric burial practice of presumed late Neolithic/early Bronze Age date."
The semicircle was just visible in the overgrowth (see first image, taken facing South, with the Western slab marked in blue). I attempted to clear the site a little to better photograph it and as I pulled at the grass, a "mat" of heather and moss lifted to show a huge quartz rock crystal acting as a foundation/support for the Western slab. The crystal foundation is not mentioned in the original entry for the investigation of the site nor in any other reports I can find online.
[Pdf downloadable here: Rennie, E B. (1991h) The Tom, Innellan (Dunoon & Kilmun parish): cairn', Discovery Excav Scot, 1991. Page(s): 54-5 Fig 20]
There's the suspicion that it's a modern stone placed there recently. I can't say for sure as I didn't want to start digging but it certainly seemed to be wedged in tight against the stone, and was definitely under the surface, though difficult to know how much was underground. I still had to pull away a lot of matted material under the "flap" to see even the top properly - I guess the top was some 25cm across - so if it was put there in recent times it was some time ago, and would have taken quite an effort, and it's in a very isolated area.
The Canmore entry gives more information and several photographs and says: "The site was revisited and photographed by David Dorren in May 2010." but there's no mention of, or image of, the quartz. I've sent this observation to HES and will post any developments here.
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.
Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.
Click here to see more info for this site
Nearby sites
Click here to view sites on an interactive OS mapKey: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed
Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)
To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.
Turn off the page maps and other distractions
Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
6.8km E 95° Everton Cist Cist (NS2170070611)
6.9km ESE 109° Blood Moss Cist C Cist (NS2140068970)
7.2km ESE 113° Craigengowr Cist Cist (NS2142168420)
7.3km ESE 108° Blood Moss Cist A Cist (NS2180068940)
7.3km SE 139° Skelmorlie Serpent Mound Artificial Mound (NS195658)
7.3km ESE 109° Blood Moss Cist B Cist (NS2178068830)
8.2km E 92° Daff Cup Mark Rock Art (NS23177092)
8.6km N 6° Ardnadam Chambered Cairn (NS16188003)
9.1km ESE 117° Back o' the World Cup Marks Rock Art (NS2286067030)
9.1km ENE 59° Larkfield Moor* Rock Art (NS22957591)
9.5km ESE 108° Back o' the World Cairn A Cairn (NS2386068222)
10.0km SW 216° St Mary's Well (Rothsay)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NS0866763750)
10.1km E 92° Crawhin Hill 2 Rock Art (NS25107083)
10.2km SE 146° Knock Hill Fort Hillfort (NS20286286)
10.2km SW 216° Townhead Neolithic Settlement Ancient Village or Settlement (NS086635)
10.2km SW 235° Dun Burgidale* Stone Fort or Dun (NS0627766051)
10.3km E 87° Crawhin Hill 1 Rock Art (NS2526071679)
10.4km ESE 110° Back o' the World Cairn B Cairn (NS2455767532)
10.5km WSW 242° Acholter* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NS0546466961)
10.7km E 90° Garvock 2 Rock Art (NS2565971070)
10.7km E 89° Garvock 1 Rock Art (NS2569971200)
10.9km SW 221° Craigberoch* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NS0745263652)
10.9km WSW 244° Colmac Bridge* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NS0491367160)
10.9km E 99° Garvock Hill Cairn B Cairn (NS2573369442)
11.0km E 99° Garvock Hill Cairn C Cairn (NS2571769290)
View more nearby sites and additional images