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Hanging Stanes is a gallows base located on Braid Road in Midlothian, Scotland. The monument comprises the stone foundations of a gallows structure, a rare surviving example of judicial architecture from Scotland's medieval and early modern period. Such gallows were public instruments of law enforcement, typically erected on prominent routes or boundaries where their visibility served both as punishment and warning. The site sits on bedrock of the Inverclyde Group, comprising sandstone, siltstone and mudstone formed during the Osagean period, geology that provided ready building stone for the foundation bases.
The monument's location on Braid Road, a significant route through the region, reflects the deliberate placement of gallows in prominent, accessible locations. The surviving stone bases represent the practical engineering required to support the wooden superstructure, which would have comprised the vertical posts and beam from which sentences were carried out. Such permanent bases distinguished formal gallows from temporary structures and indicated the established nature of justice at this site.
Hanging Stanes is protected by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument under reference SM5884, recognising its significance as evidence of Scotland's judicial landscape and social history during a period when capital punishment was publicly administered.
Hanging Stanes,gallows bases,Braid Road is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM5884. View the official record →
Hanging Stanes is a gallows base located on Braid Road in Midlothian, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM5884.
Hanging Stanes,gallows bases,Braid Road is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM5884.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Mountmarle,cairn 260m SW of (7.7 km), Rosslyn Chapel, burial ground, buried remains of nave and remains of St Matthew's Church, Roslin (8.1 km), Wallace's Cave, cave and rock carvings (8.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Hanging Stanes,gallows bases,Braid Road's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Hanging Stanes,gallows bases,Braid Road stands on Inverclyde Group, bedrock that formed in the Osagean. The rock here is sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.