Temple Wood (or Half Moon Wood) is an ancient site located in

Kilmartin Glen Kilmartin Glen is an area in Argyll north of Knapdale. It has the most important concentration of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in mainland Scotland. The glen is located between Oban and Lochgilphead, surrounding the village of Kilmartin. In ...

, near

Kintyre Kintyre ( gd, Cinn Tìre, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East and West Loch Tarbert in the north. The region immediately north ...

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The site includes two circles (north and south). The southern circle contains a ring of 13

standing stones A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be foun ...

about 12 metres (40 feet) in diameter. In the past it may have had 22 stones. In the centre is a burial

cist A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle East ...

surrounded by a circle of stones about 3 metres (10 feet) in diameter. Other later burials are associated with the circle. According to the

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment. ...

information marker at the site, the southern circle's first incarnation may have been constructed around 3000 BC. The northern circle is smaller and consists of rounded river stones (which also fill the southern circle). In its centre is a single stone; another stone is found on the edge of the circle. This circle may have originated as a timber circle. The name of the site originates in the 19th century (coinciding with the planting of trees around the circles) and has no relevance to the purpose of the site. It is located just south of the southern

Nether Largie Nether may refer to: * The Nether, the hell-like dimension in the video game ''Minecraft'' * ''The Nether'', a sci-fi play * ''Nether'' (video game), a first-person multiplayer survival video game for Microsoft Windows See also *Kingdom of the ...

cairn. It is a designated

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

References

External links

* Historic Environment Scotland
Visitor guide

BBC site on Temple Wood
{{European Standing Stones Stone circles in Argyll and Bute Archaeological sites in Argyll and Bute Historic Scotland properties in Argyll and Bute Prehistoric sites in Scotland Burials in Argyll and Bute Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Argyll and Bute