Moss Farm Road preserves a damaged Bronze Age — the period from about 2500 to 800 BC — stone-mound-and-circle monument within Arran’s wider Machrie Moor landscape dating from before any written account of Britain existed.
Seven upright stones and several displaced blocks mark the remains of a stone-mound-and-circle monument beside Moss Farm Road near Machrie on Arran’s west side. Also called Machrie Moor 10, the site combines the remains of a Bronze Age burial cairn, a mound of piled stones often covering a burial, with a surrounding stone circle. Its position three miles north of Blackwaterfoot and roughly a kilometre from the Machrie Moor Stone Circles places it within a concentration of monuments rather than apart from them.
The site also makes the vulnerability of archaeology visible. Stone robbing, a modern fence and a farm track have altered the monument, leaving only part of what was once a complete 23-metre circle. Seven upright kerb stones remain, alongside at least five large stones on edge. Those traces invite attention not only to the original cairn and ring, but also to the more recent farming and reuse that changed how the ancient monument survives.
What follows is drawn from published sources, with each claim labelled by how firmly it is established.
History
Moss Farm Road Stone Circle originated as a Bronze Age burial cairn surrounded by a ring of stones. Its dual form links funerary practice with a deliberately arranged stone setting. The original ring measured 23 metres across, showing that the monument once made a much more complete and legible mark on Arran’s western landscape than it does today.
The monument’s present condition records a later history of disturbance. The cairn was robbed for stone, while a modern fence and farm track cut through the north side of the site. This explains why the circle now survives as a partial kerb rather than as a complete ring, and makes visible the long interaction between ancient remains and agricultural land use.
Moss Farm Road is part of a wider concentration of prehistoric remains near Machrie. It lies around one kilometre west of the Machrie Moor Stone Circles and is sometimes called Machrie Moor Circle 10. Even in a damaged state, it extends the archaeological landscape beyond the better-known group and shows that monuments were distributed across the moor rather than confined to one focal point.
Cultural influences
-
The low cairn and surrounding stone ring combine a funerary monument with a deliberately arranged circle.
Connections
-
Photo: Colin / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 The site is also known as Machrie Moor Circle 10 and lies about one kilometre west of the better-known group.
What to look for
-
The seven uprights
Look for the surviving kerb of seven upright stones, each around a metre high. They are the clearest remnant of the former circle and help suggest the scale and rhythm of the original 23-metre ring.
-
The stones on edge
Notice the additional large stones now on edge. The source records at least five of these, and their position alongside the uprights offers evidence of a monument whose components have shifted or been reduced over time.
-
Cairn within circle
Read the low cairn and stone circle together rather than treating them as separate features. The site is described as a Bronze Age burial cairn surrounded by stones, so its significance lies in this combined arrangement.
-
The track through the site
Look towards the north side, where the modern fence and farm track have cut through the site. This alteration is part of the monument’s visible modern history and helps account for its incomplete condition.
-
Machrie Moor nearby
Place the circle within the wider Arran landscape by relating it to the Machrie Moor Stone Circles about one kilometre east. The alternate name Machrie Moor Circle 10 is a useful reminder that this quieter site belongs to a larger prehistoric cluster.
Plan your visit
- Location
- 55.5419°N · 5.3294°W
- Nearest settlement
- Machrie
- Access
- Open access
- Terrain
- Moderate walking
- Time needed
- About 30 minutes
- Best time
- Dry daylight, when the partial kerb and the farm track’s cut through the north side are easiest to see.
- What survives
- A damaged Bronze Age cairn-and-circle monument retaining seven upright kerb stones and other displaced stones; a fence and farm track cut through the north side.
- Facilities
- No dedicated visitor facilities are documented at the stone circle; plan to use facilities in nearby settlements.
Opening & admission
- The site lies west of the main Machrie Moor Stone Circles.
- A modern fence and farm track cut through part of the monument.
Nearby places
Sacred place · Prehistoric
Machrie Moor Stone Circles
North Ayrshire
Machrie Moor gathers stone circles, burials and earlier timber settings into an exceptional prehistoric (before any written account of Britain exis…
- Near Machrie
- Some walking
Sacred place · Prehistoric
Auchagallon Stone Circle
North Ayrshire
Auchagallon is a fifteen-stone Arran monument whose circle and central cairn, a mound of piled stones covering a burial, preserve evidence of Stone…
- Near Machrie
- Some walking
Fortified place · Iron Age
Kilpatrick Dun
North Ayrshire
Kilpatrick Dun is a substantial later Iron Age (the centuries before Rome arrived, from about 800 BC) fortified residence on Arran, with an eight-m…
- Near Blackwaterfoot
- Some walking
Fortified place · Iron Age
Torr a'Chaisteal
North Ayrshire
Torr a’Chaisteal preserves the low, turf-covered defences of an Iron Age (from about 800 BC until the Romans came) dun and its link to Arran’s wide…
- Near Blackwaterfoot
- Some walking
The setting
Near Moss Farm Road Stone Circle, about 20 metres away.
Photo: David Baird / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
Near Moss Farm Road Stone Circle, about 30 metres away.
Photo: David Baird / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
Near Moss Farm Road Stone Circle, about 130 metres away.
Photo: Andy Beecroft / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
Questions people ask
- What is Moss Farm Road Stone Circle?
- It is the remains of a Bronze Age burial cairn surrounded by a circle of stones, near Machrie on the Isle of Arran.
- How much of the stone circle survives?
- The circle was once complete and 23 metres in diameter. Its remaining kerb has seven upright stones around one metre high, with at least five more large stones now on edge.
- Why is the monument also called Machrie Moor 10?
- It lies around one kilometre from the Machrie Moor Stone Circles and is sometimes known as Machrie Moor Circle 10.
Sources
The Ancient Codex, in your pocket
Get the Pocket Codex app
Carry the directory with you — Moss Farm Road Stone Circle and thousands of ancient places across Britain and Ireland, offline, wherever you roam.