Bigstones

Nearest Town: Bathgate, Lanarkshire

OS Grid Reference: NS 98 77 17

Directions: From the M8 at Livingston, take junction 3a for Bathgate. Follow the A800 through Bathgate, until you see the B972 on the right. Follow signs for Torpichen Preceptory & Cairnpapple Hill. Layby for parking, entry fee of £3 unless you are a member of Historic Scotland, for whom it is free.

Site Notes: A monument of real size and presence, this site crowns a hill with huge views over lowland Scotland, including the Forth, and across to Edinburgh and Glasgow. This site originally began as a place of ritual, with post holes showing where enormous wooden posts once towered over the site together with stones and the henge bank itself. Later, it became a place of burial, with the massive cairn you see in the pictures. This cairn is actually a 1950’s reconstruction, and is a re-enforced concrete shell. However, it does give you chance to enter the tomb, that you should take. Inside are two open burial cists.

There is a small display contained within the Nissen hut on-site, and the custodians are usually friendly and knowledgeable. Their information on the site should not be missed.