<< Our Photo Pages >> Trestle Cairn - Stone Circle in Scotland in Scottish Borders
Submitted by Andy B on Thursday, 27 February 2003 Page Views: 6559
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Trestle Cairn Alternative Name: Dere Street II, Plea Shank CairnCountry: Scotland County: Scottish Borders Type: Stone Circle
Nearest Town: Hownam Nearest Village: Dere Street
Map Ref: NT75181612 Landranger Map Number: 80
Latitude: 55.438327N Longitude: 2.393834W
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 |
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bishop_pam visited on 24th Aug 2017 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 2
Anne T visited on 23rd Apr 2015 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 3 Trestle Cairn, off Dere Street, Scottish Borders: Continuing north up Dere Street from the Black Knowe standing stone, the stone wall is continuous uphill. To get back to Black Knowe Cairn we either had to carry on to Trestle Cairn then double back to Black Knowe Cairn or walk back down the hill to a gate lower down the field at the lower field boundary and walk back uphill to Black Knowe Cairn. We chose the former.
Continuing uphill, there is a gate in the next field boundary. At the time of our visit there was stock in the field and an electric fence which we had to duck under. A few yards to the left hand side there was a gate into the field immediately below Trestle Cairn. 50 yards along the stone wall to the left there was a gate into the Trestle Cairn field giving easy access to the cairn.
The Canmore/RCAHMS records for this site (Canmore ID 57949 Site Number NT71NE 34) record in 1947 that this is a ‘Druidical Circle .... consists of 17 stones distributed within the circumference of a demolished cairn which originally measured 55’ in diameter’. There were clearly 2 ovals/circles of irregularly placed stones with banks and ditches around them. My impression was that this was a cairn, with some similarities to the Loupin’ Stanes which we’d seen near Eskdalemuir a few weeks before. The views to the west and south were stunning at this time of early evening, with the distant hills bleeding into the grey of the dusk.
From here we could see the Five Stones Stone Circles down in the valley to the right of Dere Street, which we’d hoped to make it to that day. The walking had been slower than we anticipated so we stayed to photograph and appreciate the location of this cairn and made our way downhill to Black Knowe Cairn. There is so much to see in this area that we’re going to make another trip, with the Five Stones Stone Circles top of the list.
Note for future visitors: returning to the gate in the field within Plea Shank, don’t go back to the gate onto Dere Street. Continuing down the field you will come to some smoothly mown pathways within the heavily tussocked grass. These lead back to Trestle Cairn and is easier walking than in the long grass.
h_fenton Andy B have visited here
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3 Ambience: 3.5 Access: 2.5
Information about this impressive cairn can be found in Canmore ID 57949, which also refers to this as a Druidical Circle.
Canmore tells us that in 1947, it was recorded that: "Trestle Cairn stands on a ridge. Its remains consist of 17 stones distributed within the circumference of a demolished cairn which originally measured 55' in diameter. Only the two westernmost stones ... are now earthfast, both standing 2'5" in height and both at a distance of 8' within the margin of the cairn, which is marked here for a length of 20' by an arc of undisturbed material which still attains a height of 1'. Apart from this fragment, everything has been disturbed, and the remaining part of the cairn rises to a maximum height of 2'6" above ground level. The other 15 stones have been moved and in many cases broken, so that any arrangement in which they now lie is fortuitous."
In 1995, an update reported the cairn: "stands on top of an unnamed hill some 200m E of Plea Shank. It measures c.15m in diameter and stands some 0.7m high, with several boulders set on edge within the circumference along the S side of the demolished cairn. The cairn has an uneven surface and is badly disturbed."
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