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Earlseat Standing Stone Fife

Submitted by Nick on Sunday, 14 December 2003  Page Views: 19585

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Earlseat
Country: Scotland County: Fife Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Nearest Town: Markinch  Nearest Village: Colatown of Balgonie
Map Ref: NT3197797452  Landranger Map Number: 59
Latitude: 56.164858N  Longitude: 3.096922W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 🔒 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 🔒 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 4
7 photos by 3 photographers
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johnur visited on 15th Mar 2015 The easiest approach would be from the private road to Earl's Seat Farmhouse, which at the date of my visit was empty but now (Nov 18) appears to be occupied. There is nowhere to park on the private road before reaching the farmhouse, so it may be preferable to park off the A915 and walk round the field edge. The stone is visible from the main road.

hamish have visited here

Earlseat
Earlseat submitted by Nick : NT319974 From the outskirts of Kirkcaldy, turn east along the A915, known locally as the Standin' Stane road, towards Leven. Earlseat farm is just to the north of the road, and the stone there can easily be seen from the road. This stone is a block of sandstone, around 4-1/2 feet tall, oriented approximately E-W. There are no visible cup marks on it. It's not very spectacular, but is in a ni... (Vote or comment on this photo)
Standing Stone in Fife

From the outskirts of Kirkcaldy, turn east along the A915, known locally as the Standin' Stane road, towards Leven. Earlseat farm is just to the north of the road, and the stone there can easily be seen from the road. This stone is a block of sandstone, around 4-1/2 feet tall, oriented approximately E-W. There are no visible cup marks on it. It's not very spectacular, but is in a nice open location.
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Contributor Bio for Nick: Based in Dundee, Scotland, contributing since 2001. Favourite site: Western Bandirran Ci. Occupation: Rig Medic.

Earlseat
Earlseat submitted by johnur : Earlseat Standing Stone looking north-west to West Lomond Hill on the horizon. The opencast coalmine mentioned in another post has been replaced by a windfarm. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Earlseat
Earlseat submitted by johnur : Another side of Earlseat Standing Stone (Vote or comment on this photo)

Earlseat
Earlseat submitted by johnur : Earlseat Standing Stone taken 15 March 2015 after clearing surrounding vegetation. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Earlseat
Earlseat submitted by hamish : What a dreich day this was, well the whole week was. Just over the hill at the back is a vast opencast coal mine, I know that because I went up the wrong road looking for this Stone. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Earlseat
Earlseat submitted by hamish : At this time of the year you cannot see this from the road. There wasn't anyone at the farm house so I just went over the field and got very wet. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Earlseat
Earlseat submitted by hamish : I was here in the pouring rain, the stone was partially hidden by vegetation and I wasn't in any mood to hack it down. It is a simple Stone probably lined up with Leven and Largo Law.

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"Earlseat" | Login/Create an Account | 7 News and Comments
  
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Re: Earlseat by Anonymous on Monday, 09 November 2020
I realise this is a very old thread but if any one is still monitoring it, does anyone know where the stone is now? Was it ever replaced?
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Earlseat by Anonymous on Thursday, 03 January 2019
Could the removal and subsequent delay in re-erecting the stone be connected to tragic death toll on this road?6
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Earlseat by Anonymous on Friday, 23 December 2011
This standing stone stood in a field in between the A921 and the A915 (named Standing Stane Road) until it was removed in 2004 for the extraction of coal. The stone stood to a height of 1.80m, and upon excavation it was found to be sitting in a socket 0.90m deep, cut into the sandstone bedrock.

The stone itself is red sandstone, weighs 5 tons, and measures 1.00m wide by 0.50m thick. Next to it was found a pit containing cremated human bone, and four further (damaged) cremation pits were found around 20m NE of the stone. Carbon-dating suggests the stone was erected around 2000 BC.

The Name Book of 1855 suggested that the stone had been removed and replaced "a few years" previously, and amazingly Historic Scotland rejected it for scheduling because of this. The 2004 excavation proved that the stone had never been removed.

The stone was removed completely following the excavation, and stored on-site on pallets. It was estimated that it would be re-erected in 2007 following the end of mining in the area, however despite the site being returned to pasture, the stone remains down. The long-term plan is still to re-erect the stone and ensure easy public access, but as yet that has not happened.
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Re: Earlseat by Anonymous on Friday, 23 December 2011
Historic Scotland are a joke! If they could make money for viewing the stone it would have replaced by now. This would not be the situation in Englandshire.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Earlseat by Anonymous on Monday, 26 October 2009
on the road (standing stane road )there is another stone ,they are only about 150mtres apart and i always connected them with each other , possble that earls stone is centre stone ?migs
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Earlseat by Anonymous on Sunday, 03 October 2010
    Not connected at all. I lived on the farm earlseat for around 30 years. The stone on the road is a milestone. It used to have the mileage to local towns on it.

    The road however "The standing stane road gets its name from the stone in the field"

    We always used to get people coming to see the stone when I lived there. Two guys from Wales once took samples of the stone then returned to tell us that the nearest location where that type of stone existed was in perthshire, which meant it had been brought a considerable distance.

    [email protected] is my email if you want to know anything else
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