Moray HER - NJ05NW0003 - WITCHES STONES, FORRES

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Main Details

Primary ReferenceNJ05NW0003
NameWITCHES STONES, FORRES
NRHE Card No.NJ05NW3
NRHE Numlink 15807
HES SM No. NULL
HES LB No. NULL
Site Form Standing Structure
Site Condition Incomplete
Details Standing stone, the only remaining one of three said to mark the graves of the three witches who bewitched King Duncan in 960 AD. The surviving granite stone, 0.9 m (3 ft) square by 0.3 m (1 ft) high, is clasped by an iron band. An iron plaque bears the inscription, 'From Cluny Hill witches were rolled in stout barrels through which spikes were driven. Where the barrels stopped they were burned with their mangled contents. This stone marks the site of one such burning.' A second stone, said to be one of the original three stones, a conglomerate boulder 0.8 m high by 1.1 m wide, was recorded in close proximity in the garden of the bungalow, Trafalgar Place (NJ05NW0527), and visited by the OS in 1963. The third stone was broken up in 1802, when the remaining stone was also damaged.
Last Update22/06/2023
Updated Bycpalmer
CompilerCH
Date of Compilation18/05/2014

Google Map for NJ05NW0003

National Grid Reference: NJ 0435 5929



Event Details


Excavations and Surveys


Artefact and Ecofact

Ecofact

Samples
Palynology
Ecofact Notes

Monument Types

Monument Type 1Monument Type 2Monument Type 3OrderProbability
STONESSTANDING C100
STANDING-STONES  A100
GRAVESTONES  B100