Little Findowie

The Little Findowie standing stone is part of a much-disturbed site. Standing on a cultivated river terrace above the River Braan, it protrudes from a pile of other stones, including some filed clearance, arranged in a line E-W. A few metres to the S is another pile of stones aligned the same way. The two lines converge slightly to the E. Some of the stones in the N line are buried flush with the ground. Given this alignment, and the translation of name, Stones of Worship, it is easy to see why this was seen as the possible remains of a chapel. However, the stones are so irregular in shape that they obviously didn’t come from a building.

It has been suggested that the stones could be the remains of a circle, with only one remaining standing. Certainly there are several other stones of a similar size and shape in the piles, and this would appear to be a more likely origin than the chapel theory. But if a circle had been destroyed at a time of cultivation, would the remains have been arranged in two parallel piles pointing E-W? Interestingly, considering the E-W alignment, Meikle Findowie stone circle is 1.5km due E of Little Findowie, and to the W is a notch in the hills created at Glen Fender.

It is tempting to suggest that the stones at Little Findowie are the remains of two stone rows, related in some way to the circle at Meikle Findowie, and perhaps aligned with the setting sun in Glen Fender, but whether or not this is the case is difficult to tell due to the clear disturbance the site has suffered.

standing stone – 1.40m tall