Eslie The Greater Recumbent Stone Circle

This well-preserved recumbent stone circle just south of Banchory, Aberdeenshire, Scotland stands at 180m OD just below the crest of a low saddle with wide views to the south and west. Of the eight original circle stones (plus recumbent and flankers), five still stand; they range from 1.5m to 0.8m in height, the one opposite the recumbent being, characteristically, the smallest. In plan the circle is an ellipse, 26.5m by 23.2m. The enclosed ring cairn is 18m in diameter with a clearly visible central space, 6.3m in diameter; the cairn has been augmented by field gatherings. The recumbent, 2.9m long, is slightly east of south, like other Deeside recumbent stone circles. The circle is intervisible with another, Eslie the Lesser, 0.8km to the north-east (NO 722921),which is 15.3m in diameter and is located on a shoulder 20m higher than Eslie the Greater. Canmore 36794. NO 7171 9159. 3D model produced from 198 photographs using Huawei 10 Pro Mobile phone processed in Agisoft Metashape.