Machrie Moor Stone Circles

Machrie Moor Stone Circles lie on the Isle of Arran in North Ayrshire. Six circles stand on a windswept moor east of the ruined Moss Farm. Some rings use tall red sandstone pillars, others low granite boulders. Prehistoric remains surround the circles—standing stones, burial mounds and cists. A timber circle beneath the stones has been dated to about 2030 BCE.

The circles sit below a notch in the skyline where two valleys meet. At midsummer sunrise the sun rises in line with the notch, suggesting the builders chose the spot for its light. James Bryce recorded the circles in 1861 and numbered them one to five. Later work added six more circles and a newly found circle in 1978 became Machrie Moor 11. A fresh discovery in 2025 shows another circle still hidden beneath the peat.

Machrie Moor 2 has three tall standing stones up to 4.9 metres high. Inside the ring lie two large stones, one with a central hole as if meant for a millstone. A cist in the centre once held a food vessel. Machrie Moor 3 shows only one standing stone but stumps mark the rest of an egg-shaped ring. Excavations here found an urn with burnt bone and flint flakes. Low granite blocks form Machrie Moor 4, while Machrie Moor 5 has two rings of boulders called Fingal’s Cauldron Seat. The moor also holds burial cairns and standing stones, giving a sense of the landscape organised by people three or four thousand years ago.