Nether Largie North Cairn

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.

ParkingParking not known

The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.

Parking details

Historic Scotland says parking is available at Lady Glassary Wood, but publishes no charge or free statement, so the status is recorded as unknown. The same car park serves Temple Wood, the Nether Largie standing stones and the South and Mid cairns, so the cairns can be seen on one walk; the North cairn is the furthest, about 900 m away. From Kilmartin village the cairn is about 500 m south by way of Glebe Cairn.

Driving pin: Lady Glassary Wood car park, 898 m south-west of Historic Scotland's own pin on the cairn. The cairn is about half a mile south of Kilmartin on a road off the A816. Historic Scotland gives journey planners only.

About

Second in line from the north of Kilmartin Glen's five Bronze Age burial cairns, Nether Largie North stands in sheep pasture on the valley floor, 155 m from its neighbour Nether Largie Mid. What you see is largely a 1970s reconstruction of the cairn the archaeologist J.H. Craw excavated in 1930, when it was about 21 m across and 3 m high. Near the centre he found a large cist under a huge capstone, holding a single human tooth. The capstone carries two extremely rare carvings of axe heads over about 40 cup and ring marks, suggesting it was once an older standing stone; bronze axes signalled wealth, so the carvings may mark the status of the person buried here. A second grave held charcoal and an ox's tooth. The concrete chamber built inside to show the cist is closed for now, so the cairn is seen from outside. Walk about 500 m from Kilmartin village or 900 m from Lady Glassary Wood car park.

Check today’s timesSee all times

Nether Largie North CairnExterior only, open all year; the inspection chamber inside the cairn is closed, no reopening date

Opening times may change at short notice.

Historic Scotland: 'Visitors can explore the exterior of the cairn but internal areas are currently closed.' and 'Nether Largie North Cairn is free to visit and open all year round.' No reopening date is given (21 October 2026); not on Historic Scotland's closures page. Historic Scotland's directory lists it as 'Kilmartin Glen: Nether Largie North Cairn'.

The cairn is a 1970s reconstruction with a concrete inspection chamber at its centre, normally entered through a hatch to see the carved capstone of the cist; that chamber is the part now closed. The cairn sits in a fenced enclosure on working farmland, so follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code and wear strong footwear. No toilets or other facilities.

Photo: The round stone mound of Nether Largie North Cairn inside a low fence, with its roof hatch and information board, sheep grazing and hills behind. Richard Webb, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nether_Largie_Cairn_(North)_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7630843.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.