Description
The monument comprises a henge and avenue of prehistoric date (probably late 3rd to early 2nd millennia BC), which lies on an E facing slope in a much altered landscape, approximately 175m NNE of Broom Lodge. The monument was originally scheduled in 1929 and last scheduled in 1993, but the description was incomplete and some elements of the complex were not included: the present rescheduling rectifies this.
The henge lies approximately 175m NNE of Broom Lodge. It measures 33.5m from crest to crest of its bank, which is pierced by entrance gaps to the N and S. Close to the inner lip of the ditch there was once a concentric circle of six standing stones, of which only two survive. The henge was excavated in 1855 revealing a central inhumation in a deep pit, abundant cremations and cinerary urns, and a number of artefacts. A cremation burial was found at the base of each of the two surviving stones. A Pictish symbol stone has also been relocated (in antiquity) to the centre of the henge. It is a relatively flat undressed slab carved with a Pictish beast and a crescent and V-rod symbol.
The monument also includes the northern portion of an avenue recorded (by Maitland and others) as running from the destroyed concentric circles N of the henge, to a point approximately 400m S of the henge. It has been suggested that the avenue consisted of 40 stones on either side, but only four remain. The first lies within the field containing the henge; the second is located approximately 70m E of Broom Lodge, the third approximately 30m E of Crichiebank, and the fourth about 100m SSE of Crichiebank.
The area to be scheduled falls into four discrete parcels of land. The largest (northernmost) area is irregular in plan with maximum dimensions of 255m E-W by 308m NNW-SSE, to include the remains of the henge and its associated avenue. The area is bounded to the E by the edge of the terrace on which the henge and avenue stand, on the W by the field boundary adjacent to Mill Road, on the N by the field boundary abutting the play area in Crichie Circle, and on the S by the field boundary adjacent to the paper mill access road.
The Broom Lodge standing stone, the Crichiebank standing stone and the Broomend standing stone are also included. Each of these scheduled areas is a circle measuring 10m in diameter, centred on the standing stone, and including an area around it in which traces of activities associated with the erection and use of the stone may survive.
All four areas are marked in red on the accompanying map.