Cairnpapple Hill, West Lothian

It might be wet, cold and miserable out there, but that does not stop a blipper getting a blip on a day off ... so off I trotted to Cairnpapple Hill, which is located in quite an isolated spot in West Lothian.

Mike the Micra is nothing but a stalwart and won't let wind, rain and low cloud cover put him off and we got to our destination in one piece (don't mention single track roads!). I must admit, the hill is quite a spooky place, although this may have something to do with the fact that it does not open on a Friday, so I was the only poor sod there in the wind and rain! It was probably the wind, but I did think there were eerie noises around the hill ... eek!

Anyway, here is some history about the place:

Cairnpapple Hill is a hill with a dominating position in central lowland Scotland with views from coast to coast. It was used and re-used as a major ritual site over about 4000 years, and in its day would have been comparable to better known sites like the Standing Stones of Stenness.

The summit lies 312 m above sea level, and is about 2 miles (3 km) north of Bathgate.

Neolithic rituals began about 3500 BC with signs of small hearths, and precious objects left on the hill, presumably as offerings, including fine pottery bowls and stone axe heads imported from Cumbria and Wales.

Probably around 3000 BC a Class II henge was constructed with the hilltop being surrounded by a bank outside a ditch about 12 ft (3.5 m) wide cut over 3 ft (1 m) into the rock, with wide entrances from north and south. Inside this an egg-shaped setting of 24 uprights (thought to have been timber posts, or possibly standing stones) enclosed an inner setting of similar uprights.

In the 19th century the site was completely concealed by trees, then in 1947-1948 excavations by Stuart Piggott found a series of ritual monuments from successive prehistoric periods. In 1998, Gordon Barclay re-interpreted the site for Historic Scotland.

I haven't done many archaeological blips, which is a shame, considering I did some of it at University, in Wales. Anyway, here is the other archelogical blip I did of Huly Hill just at the west of Edinburgh.