Druids Temple : Places in Ancient Lothian

► cromlech of a celtic apollo

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Kipps is situated just to the west of Beecraigs Country Park, between Cairnpapple and Cockleroy, east of Torphichen.

Kipps Druid's Temple, Looking South, Towards Cairnpapple

Several older sources mention the existence of a "cromlech" or a "Druid's Temple" at Kipps. According to Rev. James Paton, writing in The Statistical Account of Scotland in the late eighteenth century:

About a mile to the E. of Torphichen, is an altar of 4 great unpolished stones, on which, according to tradition, sacrifices were anciently performed: By others, it has been called the temple of Terminus, although it may rather have been a druidical place of worship.[1]

Kipps Druid's Temple, Looking North-east, Towards Kipps Farm

And again, in The New Statistical Account of Scotland, we find Rev. William Hetherington making a similar claim:

In a field adjoining the old peel-like mansion of Kipps, there are the remains of a Druid circle. The central stone, of a large size, probably the stone of sacrifice, still occupies its original position, but has been split asunder, which tradition says was done by lightning. Some of the stones that formed the circle have been broken and removed, in order to give place to the plough; yet the outline of the circle may still be traced, which has been of considerable extent. There is an upright stone at no great distance, connected, probably, with this ancient place of superstitious worship, but of which the express use is not now known.[2]

Furthermore, in the Ordnance Survey map for 1856, we see this local tradition represented once more:

Kipps Druid's Temple, OS Map 1856

What exists today at Kipps is an apparently circular area defined by a low modern wall, presumably designed by one of the eighteenth or nineteenth century residents of the nearby Kipps Castle (c.1625) as a landscape feature to mark out the so-called Druid's Circle within.

Druid's Temple, Looking South

The remaining stones of the "circle" are no longer arranged according to a circular plan, and the "altar" referred to by Paton and Hetherington is equally absent. Indeed, most contemporary archaeological thought suggests that the primary group of boulders now just off-centre are in fact the fragmented parts of a large glacial erratic which has been split by frost damage.

Druid's Temple, Looking South-east

Nonetheless, the site exists in an area rich with Neolithic and Bronze Age finds, from the hill fort on Bowden Hill to the burials at Cairnpapple, and the standing stones at Gormyre and Williamcraigs, to mention but a few.

Druid's Temple, Looking North-west

Furthermore, a cremation urn burial was found in the immediate vicinity of the "circle" in 1884 (CANMORE gives the OS grid reference as NS 990 738).

Druid's Temple, Looking North

Given the apparently large discrepancies between the descriptions provided in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by Paton and Hetherington with what is visible today, the precise nature of this site could surely only be defined through systematic archaeological investigation, which has not, to date, been carried out.

Footnotes

[1] James Paton, "Parish of Torphichen", in The Statistical Account of Scotland (Edinburgh: Creech, 1791-99), Vol.4, p.470.

[2] William Hetherington, "Parish of Torphichen", in The New Statistical Account of Scotland (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1834-45), pp.49-50.

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