Sheldon Stone Circle is a prehistoric stone circle

Stone circle

A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed across the world throughout history for many different reasons....

, located at grid reference

Grid reference

Grid references define locations on maps using Cartesian coordinates. Grid lines on maps define the coordinate system, and are numbered to provide a unique reference to features....

 , to the south-east of Oldmeldrum

Oldmeldrum

Oldmeldrum is a village and parish in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, not far from Inverurie in North East Scotland. With a growing population of over 2000, Oldmeldrum falls within Scotland's top 300 centres of population. The A947 road from Aberdeen to Banff runs through the centre of the...

, Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

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Description

Sheldon, sitting like a crown on a ridge may not be a recumbent stone circle as no recumbent stone exists, but the circle is about the right size for one. This stone circle lies about 200m north of a minor road at Sheldon Farm. There are six large stones still standing, plus an equally large outlier close by at the east. The circle appears to be built on a raised platform, and the outlier stands at the end of a peninsula extension of this platform. The stones do not appear to be height graded, and there is no sign of a recumbent or possible flankers, but there are the remains of what could be a ring-cairn in the interior. Unless the requisite stones have been selectively removed, this does not seem to be a recumbent circle.

The diameter of Sheldon is 32.9m. There are no magnetic anomalies. Astronomical alignments from this circle: Sun rise & set Dec +17.2 / -16.0. There are two outlier's which have sunrise declinations that may mark the Celtic festivals of Beltane

Beltane

Beltane or Beltaine is the anglicised spelling of Old Irish  Beltaine or Beltine , the Gaelic name for either the month of May or the festival that takes place on the first day of May.Bealtaine was historically a Gaelic festival celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.Bealtaine...

 and Imbolc

Imbolc

Imbolc , or St Brigid’s Day , is an Irish festival marking the beginning of spring. Most commonly it is celebrated on 1 or 2 February in the northern hemisphere and 1 August in the southern hemisphere...

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External links

• Sheldon Recumbent Stone Circle, Aberdeenshire, from Megalithics.
• Sheldon, from Megalithic Portal.
• Sheldon Stone Circle, from Paul's Stone Circle Data Base.
• The Modern Antiquarian Sheldon Circle.