glencorse stane
midlothian
Glencorse
Alternative Names: Glencorse Church
Type of Site: Cup And Ring-Markings
NMRS Number: NT26SW 18
Location
Map reference: NT 2467 6261
Parish: Glencorse
Council: Midlothian
Archaeology Notes
NT26SW 18 2467 6261
A fine cupmarked boulder lies in the churchyard of Glencorse Parish Church. It measures 0.91m by 0.74m and 0.34m in thickness and bears at least twenty-six cupmarks, ten of them with encircling ring-marks. The stone is reported to have been found on the hill above the old parish church (NT 2452 6303). There is said to have been a second cup-and-ring marked stone at the old parish church, but it is now lost.
RCAHMS 1929; R W B Morris 1969; J N G Ritchie and A Ritchie 1972; R W B Morris 1981; RCAHMS 1988.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS 3 February 1970 and 9 December 1975.
Collection Summary
References
Morris, R W B (1969 a)
'The cup-and-ring marks and similar sculptures in Scotland: a survey of the southern Counties, part II',
Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 100, 1967-8, 71,
Morris, R W B (1981 )
The prehistoric rock art of southern Scotland (except Argyll and Galloway),
Brit Archaeol Rep, Brit Ser, 86, Oxford, 147,
RCAHMS (1929 )
The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Tenth report with inventory of monuments and constructions in the counties of Midlothian and West Lothian,
Edinburgh, 76, No.106,
RCAHMS (1988 b)
The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Midlothian (prehistoric to early historic), Midlothian District, Lothian Region,
The archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland series no 28, Edinburgh, 16, No.44,
Ritchie and Ritchie, J N G and A (1972 )
Edinburgh and south-east Scotland,
Regional archaeologies series, London, 82,
Thom and Thom, A and A S (1978 b)
Megalithic remains in Britain and Brittany,
Oxford, 48,
Introduction
This well-preserved cup-and-ring-marked boulder can easily be found in the car-park at the front of the modern Glencorse Parish Kirk, not to be confused with Glencorse Auld Parish Kirk slightly to the North-west. The Glencorse Kirk in question is located just off the A701 between Milton Bank and Glencorse Mains, slightly North of Penicuik and North-west of Auchendinny. Click here for a location map provided by StreetMap.
The Glencorse Cup-and-Ring Boulder - Context
History
This stone is said to have originated on a hill overlooking the Auld Parish Kirk at Glencorse, along with a second similar stone, now lost. The surviving stone bears over 20 cup-marks, about half of them with encircling rings, and several including single grooved channels running from their centre, but with no overall common direction.
The Glencorse Cup-and-Ring Boulder - Front
Unfortunately, the stone today is often covered with moss and lichen, making the photographing of the detail difficult, but close scrutiny of the carvings "in the flesh" is more than rewarding.
The Glencorse Cup-and-Ring Boulder
Given the proximity of the Glencorse stone to the rock carvings to be found on cliff faces at the nearby Roslyn Glen, one could easily assume some connection between the two sites.
