Scheduled MonumentsScotlandHolm of Daltallochan,stone circle & standing stone
Bronze Age · Stone circle & standing stone

Holm of Daltallochan,stone circle & standing stone

Scotland
HES SM1029
Period
Bronze Age
Site type
Stone circle & standing stone
Nation
Scotland
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland

Overview

History & significance

Holm of Daltallochan is a Bronze Age stone circle and standing stone located in Kirkcudbrightshire, south-west Scotland. The monument sits upon bedrock of the Kirkcolm Formation, a Caradocian wacke that underlies much of the local landscape. This compact arrangement of stones represents a ritual or ceremonial focus typical of the Bronze Age period, when such circles served as gathering places and burial sites for the communities who inhabited the region during the second millennium BC. The local wacke stone, a hard metamorphic rock, would have provided suitable material for the monument's construction.

The site is protected as a scheduled monument under Historic Environment Scotland's designation SM1029, reflecting its archaeological significance. The combination of a stone circle with an associated standing stone is characteristic of Bronze Age sacred landscapes in south-western Scotland, where such monuments often cluster within defined territories. The Holm's exposed position in Kirkcudbrightshire would have been visible across the surrounding countryside, marking an important focal point in the Bronze Age settlement pattern of the area.

Holm of Daltallochan,stone circle & standing stone is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1029. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Holm of Daltallochan,stone circle & standing stone?

Holm of Daltallochan is a Bronze Age stone circle and standing stone located in Kirkcudbrightshire, south-west Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1029.

What period does Holm of Daltallochan,stone circle & standing stone date from?

Holm of Daltallochan,stone circle & standing stone dates from the bronze age period, and is classified as a stone circle & standing stone. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Holm of Daltallochan,stone circle & standing stone?

Holm of Daltallochan,stone circle & standing stone 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 SM1029.

What other scheduled monuments are near Holm of Daltallochan,stone circle & standing stone?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Holm of Daltallochan,cross slab (0.1 km), Cairn Avel,cairn 800m S of Carsphairn (1.8 km), Woodhead lead mines and smelter,Carsphairn (2.4 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Holm of Daltallochan,stone circle & standing stone

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Holm of Daltallochan,stone circle & standing stone's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Holm of Daltallochan,stone circle & standing stone

Holm of Daltallochan,stone circle & standing stone stands on Kirkcolm Formation, bedrock that formed in the Caradocian. The rock here is wacke.