Gala Braes Standing Stone Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland, UK

Scheduled Monument Statement of Significance

© Crown Copyright text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland, reprinted under the Open Government License.

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to add to our understanding of Later Neolithic and Bronze Age ritual practice. The area around the stone may be expected to contain evidence relating to burial and associated ritual.

Scheduled Monument Description

© Crown Copyright text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland, reprinted under the Open Government License.

The monument comprises a atanding stone of Later Neolithic or Bronze Age date.

The stone occupies a conspicuous position on the summit of a ridge at around 265m OD. It is approximately 1.6m high, tapering to the top. There are reports of human bones being found in the vicinity of the stone during the 19th Century. The stump of a second stone lies some 70m to the W but this appears to have been moved from its original position.

The existence of this second stone, however, suggests that

the monument may have been more complex than it presently appears. The standing stone represents the remains of a prehistoric ritual site, possibly of some complexity and probably associated with human burial.

The area to be scheduled encompasses the stone and an area around it in which traces of associated ritual activity may be expected to survive. It is circular with a diameter of 20m as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Scheduled Monument References

© Crown Copyright text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland, reprinted under the Open Government License.

RCAHMS records the monument as NT 96 NE 2.