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Candle Hill Stone Circle Traditional Cache

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mcbboyd: Time to go.

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Hidden : 6/8/2015
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

A very simple cache'n'dash beside Candle Hill stone circle, near Old Rayne. Also known as Old Rayne or Tap o' Mast stone circle. Parking at field entrance right next to the cache or at a small passing place nearby. The road is generally pretty quiet, although quite a few tractors head back and forth along here. Stealth may be required when farmwork happening nearby.


I've cycled past this stone circle a number of times as it's on a nice quiet road that I frequently cycle around. However, it was only after spotting the circle marked on an OS map that I decided to look into the details and place a cache here. The stone circle lies within a crop field but can be easily seen from the road. Many of the stones have since fallen over, so it may be a little more tricky to see the stones when the crops are at their full height. However one stone does remain upright so should be always visible.

From the Canmore website concerning the stone cirle: A recumbent stone circle, previously known as Tap o' Mast. Before Dalrymple's excavation moved them in 1856-7, there were twelve stones forming a circle nearly 60ft (18.3m) in diameter, with the recumbent, its two pillars, and a fourth slab arranged to form two sides of a parallelogram, whose other two sides had traditionally been dry stone walls. This arrangement may have been caused by the district Head Courts held here in medieval times. All that remained in 1902 were the prostrate recumbent stone, the two broken and displaced flankers, and six other blocks, only one of which was in situ.

There are only eight stones remaining on the site now and unfortunately many of these have been disturbed over the years. See the related web page for some more info and pictures.

Please take care not to damage any crops if you decide to take a closer look.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Gjb fgbarf.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)