Rock Art Database

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Section A. CORE INFORMATION

A1. Identifiers

Classifications And Periods

County

STIRLINGSHIRE

A2. Grid Reference(original find site)

A3. Current Location & Provenance

Section B. CONTEXT

B1. Landscape Context

B2. Current land use & vegetation

• Wood/Forest

B3. Forestry

• Mature

B4. Archaeological Features within 200m / or visible from the panel

• Other rock art
• Dun

Other: Iron Age - classified as a broch or promontory fort

B5. Location Notes

Leckie Broch is about 1 km to the W of the village of Gargunnock on land privately owned by the Leckie Estate. It is in the wooded area along the Leckie Burn known as St. Colm's Glen. There is public access along the tarmac estate roads by foot or bike, though not motor vehicle access/parking is prohibited on the estate without permission. The glen is entered by a gate on the left just before the old sawmill and the bridge over the Leckie Burn (Note : a sign on the gate says that the footpath may be closed on occasion by the estate, presumably during pheasant shoots). The broch itself is on a promontory between the Leckie Burn and the Easter Blackspout Burn just to the S of their confluence. Both burns flow through deep wooded gullies either side of the promontory. The area between the burns is completely overgrown with rhododendrons: so much so that the broch remained undiscovered until the 1960s. It was subject to major excavations in the 70s under E.W. MacKie, but has since become reclaimed by the rhododendrons. Leckie 1 forms part of the dry-stone wall on the S side of the broch, to the left hand side of a small earth ramp leading from the broch, presumably for wheelbarrow access during the 1970s excavations.

Section C. PANEL

C1. Panel Type

C2. Panel Dimensions, Slope & Orientation

C3. Rock Surface

C4. Surface Features

• Natural Hollows
• Bedding Planes
• Smooth Surface

C5. Panel Notes

This is a roughly rectangular block of quarried sandstone occupying the second above-ground course of blocks on the outer wall of the broch. The markings are on the vertical S-facing surface. The 'cup mark' which has been reported is about 6cm in diameter x 2 cm deep. After close examination it was considered that this was probable natural. There are other indentations and depressions on the rock which are more obviously natural but mimic cup marks.

C6. Probability

The probability that there is any rock art on the panel is Possible

Comments

Very likely to be natural.

C7. MOTIFS

Visible Tool Marks? No

Visible Peck Marks? No

Section D. ACCESS, AWARENESS & RISK

D1. Access

• Right to Roam access.
• Panel is on Private land.

D2. Awareness

• Panel was known before the project.
• This panel is known to others in the local community.

There are stories or folk traditions associated with this panel No

D3. Risk

Natural

• Large areas of the rock are covered in lichen, moss or algae.
• There are trees nearby whose roots might disturb the rock.

Animal

Human

• No selection

Comments and other potential threats

This is on the Leckie estate. there is no estate office and the estate is not easy to contact and so motor vehicles must not be taken beyond the estate entrance from the public road at The Bield Farm, unless specific permission has been given. The footpath access to St. Colm's Glen and the broch may be subject to unpublicised closure at certain times by the estate. The most immediate threat to this part of the broch is from the extensive and smothering overgrowth of rhododendrons, with associated root damage to the structure.