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Kensaleyre Church, cairns and standing stones is a Bronze Age ceremonial and burial landscape situated in Inverness-shire, some 1200 metres south-south-east of the settlement of Kensaleyre. The site comprises multiple cairns and standing stones arranged across terrain underlain by Palaeogene mafic lava and tuff, bedrock that would have been exposed as dark stone suitable for monument construction in the Bronze Age. The complex demonstrates the prehistoric practice of establishing ritual and funerary sites in prominent locations within the Highland landscape.
The cairns and standing stones functioned as part of a broader pattern of Bronze Age burial and ceremonial activity across northern Scotland. Such monuments typically served as focal points for community gatherings and as permanent memorials to the dead, with the standing stones potentially marking territorial boundaries or processional routes connecting different ritual sites.
The monument is protected by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument under reference SM3417, reflecting its archaeological significance as evidence of Bronze Age settlement patterns and ritual practice in the region. The combination of cairns and standing stones at this location provides important information about prehistoric land use and social organisation in Inverness-shire.
Kensaleyre Church, cairns and standing stones 1200m SSE of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM3417. View the official record →
Kensaleyre Church, cairns and standing stones is a Bronze Age ceremonial and burial landscape situated in Inverness-shire, some 1200 metres south-south-east of the settlement of Kensaleyre. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM3417.
Kensaleyre Church, cairns and standing stones 1200m SSE of dates from the bronze age period, and is classified as a cairns and standing stones. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Kensaleyre Church, cairns and standing stones 1200m SSE of 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 SM3417.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Carn Liath,chambered cairn 380m SW of Kensaleyre Church (1 km), Kensaleyre Church,two cairns 320m & 180m SW of (1.1 km), Clach Ard,symbol stone,Tote,Carbost (1.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Kensaleyre Church, cairns and standing stones 1200m SSE of'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.
Kensaleyre Church, cairns and standing stones 1200m SSE of stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.