The Twelve Apostles () is a large
stone circle
A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The ...
located between the villages of
Holywood and Newbridge, near
Dumfries,
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 th ...
. It is the seventh largest stone circle in Britain and the largest on the mainland of Scotland.
[Stell, G. (1996) ''Exploring Scotland's Heritage: Dumfries and Galloway'', Edinburgh: The Stationery Office, p. 170] It is similar in design to the stone circles of
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...
, and is considered to be an outlier of this group.
Its south-westerly arrangement aligns it with the
midwinder sunset.
It is a
scheduled ancient 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 ...
.
Description
The circle is composed of eleven stones, of which five are earthfast; however, there were originally twelve. A plan taken by
Francis Grose
Francis Grose (born before 11 June 1731 – 12 May 1791) was an English antiquary, draughtsman, and lexicographer. He produced ''A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'' (1785) and ''A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Pr ...
in 1789 shows twelve stones and the
First Statistical Account, published two years later, records the same number. One of the stones was removed before 1837, when the
New Statistical Account entry for Holywood was compiled.
The 25 inch
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...
map of 1850 shows twelve stones in the circle, but this is due to an accidental spot of blue ink on the original plan which was carried on to published work.
Local traditions recorded in the nineteenth century associate the stones with the
twelve apostles
In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minis ...
of
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
, and link the removed twelfth stone with
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betray ...
.
notes that in one tradition the stones were said to be set up by the apostles.
The tallest upright stone is around tall. The longest, lying in the south-western sector, is long.
The circle measures at its maximum diameter. It is not a true circle in formation; rather, it is an example of
Alexander Thom's Type B 'flattened circle'.
[ScotlandsPlaces record](_blank)
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All but one of the stones are Silurian
The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozoi ...
rock; the other being Porphyry. Four, including the Porphyry rock, are natural boulders; the rest have been quarried. The nearest occurrence of Silurian rock is two miles away, near Irongray Church.Easthill stone circle
Easthill stone circle (), also known as the Seven Grey Stanes, is a small oval stone circle 3¾ miles south-west of Dumfries. Eight stones of a probable nine remain. Despite being considerably smaller, the shape and orientation of the circle link ...
is 3¾ miles SSW west of the Twelve Apostles.River Nith
The River Nith ( gd, Abhainn Nid; Common Brittonic: ''Nowios'') is a river in south-west Scotland. The Nith rises in the Carsphairn hills of East Ayrshire, more precisely between Prickeny Hill and Enoch Hill, east of Dalmellington. For the ...
but this was destroyed and used for building material before the New Statistical Account was compiled.Premonstratensian
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...
order and dated to the twelfth century. It is now housed in the Dumfries Museum
Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura, located in Dumfries in Dumfries & Galloway, is the largest museum in the region. The museum has extensive collections relating to local and history from the pre-historic era. The museum also has the world's old ...
.
See also
* Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany
* List of stone circles
References
{{Stone circles in Dumfries and Galloway
External links
Video and commentary on the Twelve Apostles Stone Circle
1789 archaeological discoveries
Stone circles in Dumfries and Galloway
Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Dumfries and Galloway
Twelve Apostles
Silurian Scotland