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Blanefield
Date Added: 23rd Aug 2020
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment
Country: Scotland (Stirling)
Visited: Yes on 2nd Aug 2020. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 3
Blanefield submitted by SandyG on 6th Jan 2018. View from south east (Scale 1m).
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Log Text: These stones are located off the West Highland Way path but easily missed if you do not know what to look for. The imposing Dumgoyach Hill immediately west of the rise where the stones lie catches the eye and domiates this section of the WHY which is why many people fail to spot the stones. To access them, you will now need to climb over a newly built Deer fence and walk up the small rise. It can be muddy at times but nothing too bad!
The view from the stones are impressive as to the north lie the imposing southerly escarpments of the Campsie Fells while to the south lie the Braes which (if you look carefully) ends with the vitrified hillfort of Quinnloch Muir.
Dumgoyach Hill completes the view and tradition has it that it was once the home to St Balaan. There was reputed to be a sacred well there and at the foot of the Hill near where the WHY pass it a short distance away lies a small congregation of fallen boulders. These are aligned in such a way as to make a 'howf' or shelter and may have been the saint's dwelling.
The contours of one of the standing stones has indentations and curves which 'seem' to align with the escarpments of the Campsie Fells. Ths may just be erosion, however. Interestingly enough, to the north west on Quinloch Muir is an unrecorded set of standing stones near a collapsed chambered cairn. One of the stones also has an indented or eroded surface which echoes the distant escarpment.
If you visit the Duntreith stones, it is well worth adding in the hillfort and the unrecorded stones/chambered cairn.