Eldbotle Wood is located on the Southern shore of the River Forth, to the North-west of Dirleton, and South-west of Fidra Island on the West side of North Berwick. Click here for a location map provided by StreetMap.
On the Northern side of the ancient Eldbotle Wood, near Marine Villa, is what appears to be an authentic standing stone some six feet high. The stone is adjacent to a small redbrick C20th structure which may be concerned with land drainage, and which seems to bear no obvious relation to the stone itself.
The Eldbotle Stane
The Eldbotle Stane
The stone is not currently listed in the CANMORE database and is not marked on the Ordnance Survey Landranger map for the area, and as such, its authenticity cannot be absolutely verified, not least because immediate access to the stone is inhibited by a high fence topped with razor wire. Nonetheless, it bears out further investigation, not least due to the presence of several other ancient remains in the surrounding Eldbotle Wood, including a cairn and two cist burial sites, one of which is in the immediate vicinity at NT 502 858, also near Marine Villa.
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