Midmar Kirk

Recumbent Stone Circle - Aberdeenshire

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In 1914 a graveyard was laid out around Midmar church, this new burial ground surrounded a monument used by people thousands of years ago for their own funeral rituals, the recumbent stone circle of Midmar Kirk. Today, five circle stones, the recumbent, and its flankers remain, there is some dispute as to the stones being in their original positions, and the uneven grading and spacing of the circle stones suggests that at the least, some substitution of stones has occurred. The stones are all large, each flanker is 2.5m tall, and the recumbent is 4.5m long and weighs twenty tons. The recumbent had to be aligned on the minor southern moonset as nearby hills prevented observation of the major setting, a problem shared with the Sunhoney circle only one mile to the east. There is no sign of an internal ring-cairn, but this is probably due to the "manicuring" that the site has received over the years it has been included in the modern graveyard.