Kilmartin Stones

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Kilmartin Stones (the oldest stones begin on the left, while the latest are on the right)

The Kilmartin Stones are a collection of ancient graveslabs (one exception being a side-slab of a tomb chest) located on the grounds at the Kilmartin Parish Church in the village of Kilmartin, Scotland.

The earliest stones date back to the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries, with the latest stones dated 1707 and 1712.

Some of the stone slabs where used as a means of identifying the graves of the knights who were members of the Templars. Similar stone to those of the Kilmartin Site have been found in several locations around the Scottish Highlands and throughout the West Coast of Ireland. The Templars used geometric designs on the slabs which, to the untrained eye, identified a particular order of knights templar.

Originally, the stones would have been laid flat on the ground or over a grave. After the Reformation, however, many of the stones were moved, and in 1956 they were moved inside a shelter to protect them from the weather.

Found in Argyll, just a short drive south of Oban, Kilmartin Glen is the richest Prehistoric landscape in Scotland. All within an area not much over 6 miles long are a huge diversity of standing stones, stone circles, carved rocks and ancient tombs. Specualation abounds as to the greater purpose of the stones. As with the geometrics designs, highlighting a mathematical signature, It also has what is believed to be the only 'Linear Cemetery' in the country – a series of chambered cairns (burial mounds) laid out in a straight line right down the bottom of the glen. The oldest of these is believed to be as old as 6000 years, way before even the pyramids. The pyramids of Egypt, though given great fame for their expanse, may be somewhat overshadowed by the intricate diversity of Kilmartin.

Why there is such a concentration of these ancient monuments in one small area of the highlands remains a mystery to this day. What there is no question about is that this must have been an area of enormous importance to these earliest of farmers. To this day the atmosphere throughout the area is rich in ancient memories echoing right down to today. The hidden mysteries of Kilmartin have only been partially understood. While we know that the land and the seasons were the life giving forces for the ancient Scots and their Irish cousins, the stones stood watching the changes of the Solar landscape, in turn being interpreted for the landscape of the people

In Kilmartin Glen's more recent history you will also find Dunadd Hillfort where our Nation was forged, Kilmartin churchyard with its Celtic crosses and carved grave slabs and Carnasserie castle – which although ruined allows access right to the top of the wallhead.