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MHG2586 - Standing Stone and Cup Marked Stone - SW of Guisachan House

Summary

Cup marked standing stone southwest of Guisachan House.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

In the parkland some 75m SW of the ruins of Guisachan House is what appears to be a standing stone. The boulder is 1.7m wide at the base, 0.8m thick and 1.3m high, with a rounded 'pointed' top. There are 4 cup marks towards the base of the stone, in the centre of its NE face.
J Duncan and G Harden 1987.

This panel was recorded as part of the ScRAP (Scotland’s Rock Art project) by members of NoSAS in July 2020. This stone stands in rough grazing about 75m SSW of Guisachan House, itself about 2 miles southwest of the small village of Tomich in Invernesshire. It can be reached by taking a car down a small road that peels off to the right from the single track road leading to Plodda Falls. There is just room to park before the gate across the road at the beginning of the parkland. The house itself is an unstable ruin, surrounded by sectional fencing, and on the verge of collapse. The track continues through the gate, round the side of the house and beyond. The stone can be easily seen from the track within deep vegetation and under the trees. Pastmap shows photographs of the stone taken on a visit by Highland Council in 2004 and at that time it lay in good parkland. In 2020 the parkland is now much degraded and reverting back into a more natural state, even though it is being grazed by cattle. The stone lies at the edge of a small stand of trees but closely surrounded up to its northeast face and sides by a large expanse of nettles which are highly midge infested in summer. To the southwest side there is bog cotton grass, indicating that it is reverting to marsh, and other parts are thick with dock leaves. However, the stone itself sits undisturbed and is easily found.

This is squat, rather bulbous standing stone measuring 2.1m high, and 1.2m width and thickness. It is an upended boulder that is assumed to be of the local bedrock - a metamorphosed sandstone (psammite) with a grey-coloured, sandstone-like appearance. Its basal dimensions are slightly larger than those given in earlier records but the stone is otherwise as described. It may have been selected as standing stone because it was cup marked at its highest point when lying in its natural recumbent state. The cupmarks would have then been facing upwards at the apex in an almost horizontal position. The opposite face of the stone is relatively flat and so it is reasonable to assume that it would have been lying on that side originally. As it stands now, the cupmarks are situated on its northeast face close to its base in the centre, in a vertical position below a diagonal 'shelf.' This would be an unusual for a cup marked stone, and would also have been an awkward position on which to to peck out the cupmarks if they had been made here after the standing stone had been put in place. In the 1987 description 4 cupmarks are noted. Cleaning the stone revealed what appeared to be cluster of 4 very closely spaced cupmarks (2 smaller and less clear than the others) on the northeast face, and plus a fifth definite cupmark a little further to the right of these. On removal of some nettle roots at the base of the stone a further definite cupmark was found slightly below the ground surface. Further cupmarks might lie below ground as a large portion of the boulder may have needed to be buried in order to place it in its upright position. The dimensions of the 4 definite cupmarks (including the below ground one) range from 6-7cm in diameter and 1-2cm deep. The 2 smaller, 'possible' cupmarks are 4-5cm x <1cm. The sizes and positions of each are annotated on the panel diagram. <1>

Note NGR in ScRAP report incorrect. NGR adjusted based on 2020 vertical aerial photographs and position shown in landscape photographs. (T. Blackie 03/04/24) <2>

Sources/Archives (3)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 2868 2516 (10m by 10m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NH22NE
Civil Parish	KILMORACK
Geographical Area	INVERNESS

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