<< Our Photo Pages >> Wren's Egg - Standing Stones in Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway

Submitted by cosmic on Friday, 08 October 2004  Page Views: 13767

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Wren's Egg Alternative Name: Blairbuy Stone
Country: Scotland County: Dumfries and Galloway Type: Standing Stones
Nearest Town: Stranraer
Map Ref: NX36104199  Landranger Map Number: 83
Latitude: 54.746058N  Longitude: 4.547868W
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
 4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 5 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
 5

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SolarMegalith visited on 8th Sep 2013 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4

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Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.33 Ambience: 3.67 Access: 4

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by cosmic : The Wren's Egg (Vote or comment on this photo)
Standing Stones in Dumfries & Galloway

Historic Scotland names this site as Blairbuy Stone so despite the dominating presence of the Wren's Egg glacial erratic that is what it will be! The two stones are only about 2.5 to 3 feet tall so are dominated by the six feet high Wren's Egg. They don't quite line up with it though!

The nearby Milton Hill pair have roughly the same alignment.

For more information see Canmore ID 62752. An extract from their 2012 excavation report records: "The farmer had encountered a stone slab on during ploughing on 29h March 2012; this was in fact the capstone of a stone cist burial. On further investigation ... and after the removal of the plough-soil overburden under archaeological supervision, two additional stone cists were found in close proximity to the first. One cist contained skeletal remains and no artefacts; the other two cists did not contain skeletal remains or artefacts. All of the cists lay on a slight ridge leaving them at risk from further damage by agricultural practices. For this reason it was deemed necessary to record and remove the cists and any contents by archaeological excavation."

A further paragraph from a 1986 publication account reads: "This term of gentle irony is applied to a large granite boulder, a glacial erratic, which sits on the edge of a low ridge in a field north-west of Blairbuie Farmhouse. About 15m east and downhill from the boulder is a pair of smaller standing stones, 1.5m apart, whose relative positions gave rise to the belief that they were the surviving inner and outer elements of a double concentric stone circle centred on the 'Egg'. Survey and excavation have shown that a circle of any kind is unlikely to have existed here. The bases of the standing stones yielded meagre evidence oflate 3rd and 2nd millennium activity."
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Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by postman : The Wrens Egg and Blairbury standing stones. (3 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by SolarMegalith : Wren's Egg erratic boulder, the other two standing stones are located about 20 SE of it (photo taken on September 2013). (Vote or comment on this photo)

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by Bladup : Blairbuy Stone Row in the foreground and the Wrens egg in the background. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by Antonine : 2008 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by SolarMegalith : Two smaller standing stones located about 20m SE of Wren's Egg. The area was excavated revealing a pit with animal bones (photo taken on September 2013). (Vote or comment on this photo)

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by cosmic : Another view along Line

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by cosmic : Row from the South

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by cosmic : The Blairbuy Pair

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by cosmic : Blairbuy Pair with Wren's Egg

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by Antonine : 2008

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by Antonine

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by Antonine

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by Antonine

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by ericgrindle : Wren's Egg - Dumfies & Galloway The Wrens Egg. Eric Grindle Image copyright: Eric Grindle (Eric Grindle), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by ericgrindle : Wren's Egg - Dumfries & Galloway The Wrens Egg, with the outlying stones to the right and Raised Copse to the left Eric Grindle Image copyright: Eric Grindle (Eric Grindle), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by ericgrindle : Wren's Egg - Dumfries & Galloway The Wrens Egg, viewed with the two outlying stones in view, although one is almost covered in nettles. Image copyright: Eric Grindle (Eric Grindle), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by postman : On approach from the wrong corner of the field.

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by postman : The Wrens thingy and wotsits.

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by postman : The Wrens egg and Milton hill stone pair in yonder field.

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by postman : Two stones and two more.

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by postman : About an hour before sunset winter solstice

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by postman : From the roadside

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by SolarMegalith : Wren's Egg in the background, two small standing stones in the foreground (photo taken on September 2013).

Wren's Egg
Wren's Egg submitted by SolarMegalith : Wren's Egg - view from the south (photo taken on September 2013).

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 406m SSE 168° Milton Hill* Standing Stones (NX36174159)
 698m E 87° Blairbuy 4 Rock Art (NX368420)
 750m NE 52° Blairbuy 6* Rock Art (NX36714243)
 767m NE 53° Blairbuy 11 Carving (NX36734243)
 844m N 358° Black Loch of Myrton Settlement* Crannog (NX3610442835)
 1.2km N 8° Lady Well (Monreith Mains) Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NX36314315)
 1.2km ESE 123° Blairbuy 1* Rock Art (NX371413)
 1.3km NNW 347° White Loch of Myrton* Crannog (NX35854328)
 1.4km E 93° Fell of Barhullion* Hillfort (NX37454188)
 1.4km ENE 74° Blairbuy 3* Rock Art (NX37464233)
 1.4km ESE 123° Blairbuy 2* Rock Art (NX37284117)
 1.5km E 97° Blairbuy 5* Rock Art (NX37594175)
 1.5km SSE 163° Knock Rock Art (4)* Rock Art (NX365405)
 1.6km WSW 238° Barsalloch* Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle (NX3472041210)
 1.9km SSE 167° Knock Rock Art (1)* Rock Art (NX36454012)
 2.0km SSE 168° St Medana's Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NX36454005)
 2.1km SSE 165° Kirkmaiden Old Church* Ancient Cross (NX3655739968)
 2.2km SSE 157° Knock 5* Carving (NX36903995)
 2.3km N 7° Drumtroddan Stone Row* Stone Row / Alignment (NX36454430)
 2.6km SSE 163° Boden Walls Well Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NX36773947)
 2.8km N 1° Drumtroddan Cup and Ring Markings* Rock Art (NX36264474)
 4.5km ENE 61° White Loch. Crannog (NX40174404)
 6.0km SE 140° Laggan Camp* Hillfort (NX3976437252)
 6.4km SE 134° Glasserton Mains* Rock Art (NX40613737)
 6.5km NNE 17° Longcastle School House* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NX3824948105)
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"Wren's Egg" | Login/Create an Account | 5 News and Comments
  
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Wren's Egg Acoustics by Anonymous on Wednesday, 24 July 2024
Acoustics
Hi on a recent visit to the Wren's egg in Dumfries and Galloway my wife standing by the large stone sneezed. The sound came back as a triple echo. Has anyone else noticed any audio anomalies at other sites?
Thanks
Colin
[ Reply to This ]

Wren's Egg - Statement of Significance by Andy B on Tuesday, 11 April 2023
(User Info | Send a Message)
In the document the various components discussed are identified by the following terms:
• The Wren’s Egg – the whole site in Guardianship (boulder and one pair of stones)
• The Wren’s Egg Boulder – the boulder
• The Wren’s Egg Stones – the pair of stones in Guardianship
• The Milton Hill Stones – the other pair of stones not in Guardianship, but covered by the same designation as the Wren’s Egg Stones

The monument known as the Wren’s Egg1 is located on a low, elongated ridge to the north of Monreith on the western side of The Machars peninsular in Dumfries and Galloway. It is situated within fields near the farmhouse of Blairbuie.

The Property in Care consists of a pair of standing stones, around 1.5m apart, with a large glacial erratic boulder2 some 20m to the west. Another similar pair of standing stones is located around 400m to the south-east on the slopes of Milton Hill and do not form part of the property in care.The site was taken into guardianship in 1890 by Deed of Appointment on request from the landowner and Member of Parliament for Wigtownshire, Sir Herbert Maxwell who was also instrumental in bringing other local monuments into state care.

Both pairs of standing stones are designated as a Scheduled Monument (SM90316)4 but the erratic boulder, as a natural feature in situ is not designated.

This area of The Machars contains many archaeological remains of a similar age, forming an extensive prehistoric landscape, most likely dating to the Bronze Age.

The site is unstaffed and is not signposted. It has no parking arrangements and access to the site is difficult and the field is often used for livestock. People who decide to visit should pay attention to local signage and requests and observe the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

More at
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/publications/publication/?publicationid=015d347c-65bd-4955-a456-a6cc009cd744
or
https://app-hes-pubs-prod-neu-01.azurewebsites.net/api/file/e0ab8546-92b5-420c-9f90-af6900e2bd8a (PDF)
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Wren's Egg by Anonymous on Tuesday, 16 December 2003
This site was excavated in the 1970's, and despite the existence of 2 standing stones a few metres away, and another 2 nearby, it was surmised that the Egg itself is probably a 'glacial erratic' - ie, a naturally deposited boulder from the ice-age - and not a human-placed stone forming some sort of centrepiece to the others.

Nonetheless, it's a nice feature.
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Wren's Egg by Anonymous on Tuesday, 16 December 2003
    Postscript (taken from a local webpage):

    It is interesting to note that if you stand on top of "The Wren's Egg" ( a standing stone at Blairbuy Farm, Monreith ) on the shortest day of the year, if the weather is clear, the sun will set directly behind Big Scaur ( "Scaur" meaning "isolated rock in the sea" ) which is situated out in Luce Bay. On every other day, it sets further west.
    [ Reply to This ]
      Re: Wren's Egg by Anonymous on Thursday, 10 May 2012
      yes it does, i have seen it on three or four occasions......
      [ Reply to This ]

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