Stone Circles are found in many countries around the world. There are a few in the Blairgowrie and Rattray area, the most unusual of which is the Leys of Marlee Stone Circle, also known as the Ardblair Stone Circle and the Essendy Road Stones.This Stone Circle is unusual in that the B947 road built in 1858 runs through the middle of it.

Many Stone Circles align so that the sun will shine through or over the stones in a specific way during the time of the solstices (longest and shortest days) and the vernal (spring) and autumnal equinoxes (where day and night are the same length). 

They are believed to be places of ceremony, worship or healing. They may have been social gathering places. 

There are six stones in the Leys of Marlee Stone Circle, the tallest of which is 1.8 metres high.

Video credit - Graeme Berry/Isla Aerial Surveying & Imaging

In 1987 an archaeological investigation of the Stone Circle was commissioned and paid for by the Blairgowrie, Rattray and District Civic Trust. In the Introduction to the Report of the investigation, Maurice Fleming who was Chair of the Civic Trust at that time explains:

“For several years prior to 1987, the fate of the standing stones on the Essendy Road hung in the balance. The six stones border the road, three on each side, some of them very close to the road’s edge. One was knocked down by a skidding lorry in the winter of 1973 and had lain on the grass verge ever since. On the other side of the road, one had been half toppled in another accident.

As a result of these incidents, there was a body of opinion that the stones were a traffic hazard and should be removed and set up elsewhere. In support of this argument it was claimed that the circle was not genuine, but had been put up in Victorian times.”

The investigation involved a detailed study of each stone and its setting. It was confirmed that the Leys of Marlee Stone Circle is prehistoric in date.The stones which had been toppled were re-erected. 

Other stone circles in the local area include:

• Parkneuk Stone Circle

• Druid’s Park Stone Circle near Drimmie.

• Murthly

• Craigballoch Stone Circle (also known as Courthill or Craighall.)

For further information visit the Blairgowrie, Rattray and District History Trust website www.blairathistory.org and the YouTube video: Leys of Marlee Stone Circle – Before Caledonia.

Low level road view

Video credit - Graeme Berry/Isla Aerial Surveying & Imaging

How to find Leys of Marlee Stone Circle: 

From the A93 Blairgowrie to Carsie road take the B947 signposted Bogles Field and Lethendy. Postcode for Sat Nav: PH10 6SA

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