Scheduled MonumentsScotlandKingside Hill,stone circle
Bronze Age · Stone circle

Kingside Hill,stone circle

Scotland
HES SM740
Period
Bronze Age
Site type
Stone circle
Nation
Scotland
Boundary

Scheduled area

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

Overview

History & significance

Kingside Hill is a Bronze Age stone circle located in East Lothian, Scotland. The monument stands on bedrock composed of an unnamed igneous intrusion of felsic rock, which formed during the Early Devonian period. This geological foundation, belonging to the Late Silurian to Early Devonian sequence, provides the stone circle with a solid base of ancient crystalline material substantially older than the Bronze Age builders who raised the monument.

The circle exemplifies the ritual and ceremonial practices of Bronze Age communities across Britain and Ireland. Such monuments typically served as focal points for gathering, ceremonial activity and possibly astronomical observation, though the specific functions of this particular circle remain undetermined. The felsic bedrock beneath Kingside Hill would have offered substantial natural stone resources to the circle's builders, potentially influencing both the siting and construction of the monument.

Kingside Hill is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under the reference SM740, ensuring its preservation as a significant archaeological and landscape feature. The monument contributes to the Bronze Age heritage of East Lothian and remains an important element of the region's archaeological record, testament to the enduring presence of prehistoric communities in the Lothian area.

Kingside Hill,stone circle is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM740. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Kingside Hill,stone circle?

Kingside Hill is a Bronze Age stone circle located in East Lothian, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM740.

What period does Kingside Hill,stone circle date from?

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

Who is responsible for protecting Kingside Hill,stone circle?

Kingside Hill,stone circle 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 SM740.

What other scheduled monuments are near Kingside Hill,stone circle?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Table Rings, cairn 500m WSW of Penshiel (1.8 km), Penshiel Grange (2.4 km), Gamelshiel, settlement & field system 950m ESE of (4.2 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Kingside Hill,stone circle

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Kingside Hill,stone circle'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 Kingside Hill,stone circle

Kingside Hill,stone circle stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Late Silurian To Early Devonian, bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is felsic-rock.