Standing stone in Smartcastle East

On level ground c. 20m S of a river, in a small river valley, in rough pasture. On the 1st (1840) ed. OS 6-inch map the river is indicated as a mill race with a flour mill and mill pond c. 90m to the E. There are also a number of buildings indicated in the vicinity on the 1st and revised edition of the 6-inch OS map but these are no longer upstanding. There is a sheer rock face c. 20m to the S and a road with a bridge over the river c. 30m to the W. The views are limited in all directions. A grey conglomerate standing stone (H 2.2m) with some small pebbles visible in its composition. The stone is rectangular in plan (Wth 1.04m tapering to 0.47m at top on SW side; 1m tapering to 0.43m at top on NE side; 0.45m tapering to 0.24m at top on NW side; 0.35m widening slightly to 0.4m at top on SE side) and tapers towards the top, with its long axis orientated NW-SE. There is a slight outward bulge (H 0.3m) on the NE side, c. 0.9m above ground level. The top surface of the standing stone is flat but sloping, with the highest point on the SE side sloping down to the NW, the surface also slopes from NE to SW. There are no visible packing stones around the base. See attached photographs: KK043-100----_01 NE side KK043-100----_02 SE side KK043-100----_03 SW side KK043-100----_04 NW side Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 21 July 2021