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Loanend is a Bronze Age stone circle located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, standing approximately 200 metres north of the settlement from which it takes its name. The monument is protected by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument. Like other circles of its type and period, it would have served ritual or ceremonial purposes within its Bronze Age community, forming a gathering place for gatherings of social or religious significance.
The circle's setting on Silurian ultramafic bedrock, an igneous intrusion of considerable geological age, places it within a landscape shaped by ancient volcanic activity. The stone selected for the circle's construction would have been sourced from this geologically distinctive terrain. The choice of location reflects Bronze Age communities' awareness of their local geology and the practical availability of suitable stone for monument building.
This Aberdeenshire circle contributes to the wider pattern of Bronze Age ritual landscapes found across Scotland. Stone circles from this period typically comprised stones arranged in a circular or near-circular configuration, and their construction and maintenance would have required significant community investment and labour. The monument remains a valuable record of Bronze Age settlement patterns and spiritual beliefs in the north-east of Scotland.
Loanend,stone circle,200m N of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM27. View the official record →
Loanend is a Bronze Age stone circle located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, standing approximately 200 metres north of the settlement from which it takes its name. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM27.
Loanend,stone circle,200m N of dates from the bronze age period, and is classified as a stone circle,200m. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Loanend,stone circle,200m N 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 SM27.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Johnston, unenclosed settlement 400m E of (2.2 km), Druidstone, stone circle 50m WNW of (2.3 km), Hill of Newleslie, hillfort, 400m N of Cotetown (2.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Loanend,stone circle,200m N 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.
Loanend,stone circle,200m N of stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Ordovician To Silurian, bedrock that formed in the Silurian. The rock here is ultramafitite.