Meigle and its environs have many monuments and artefacts from earliest times.
These include a hammer stone from the Neolithic age, Neolithic/Bronze Age rock carvings seen on the very large 'Macbeth’s' standing stone and Bronze Age cairns, cists, food vessels and an alloy bead. The area also has a notable concentration of Iron Age features including hill forts, round house settlements and souterrains, and a Roman fort and camp. The main features for which Meigle is famous are from early medieval times when the Pictish people created their unique and elaborate carved stones.
What is particularly intriguing is that many of the artefacts have names that are associated with either Macbeth or King Arthur.
Those with Macbeth-related names include Macbeth’s Stone, a large standing stone at the entrance to Belmont Camp; Seward’s Stone, a smaller stone in the meadow by Belmont Castle; Belliduff’s Mound, a round barrow or tumulus near to the entrance to Belmont playing field from the Dundee Road; and Duff’s Knowe, a largely destroyed mound at the Camno Crossroads.
Seward (or Siward) could relate to Seward, Duke of Northumberland, who led the army that defeated Macbeth’s at the Battle of Dunsinane; the Duke of Northumberland’s nephew, who was killed in that battle or the Duke of Northumberland’s son - who only exists in Shakespeare’s play, while Duff could relate to Macduff from the play or Isabella Duff, Macduff’s daughter who is said to have been imprisoned in Kirkhill Tower, a medieval tower which is now embedded within Belmont Castle.
The Arthurian names include Vanora’s (Guinevere’s) Mound in Meigle Churchyard and Arthurstone, named after a large standing stone which was blown up in 1791 to provide building material for Arthurbank Farmhouse. Barry Hill, which is above Alyth and visible from Meigle and Ardler, is said to be where Guinevere was imprisoned by Mordred.
It is unclear why these names were adopted but one theory is that they appeared at the time of the Scottish Reformation to stop John Knox’s followers from destroying ancient artefacts which remained important to the local community.
At the entrance to Belmont Estate opposite the Kinloch Memorial Hall, you can find the site of Belliduff's Cairn in the right corner of the field. The cairn, more accurately described as a tumulus, is a low earthen mound that was excavated in the mid-1800s to reveal a stone kist, or coffin, dating from the Bronze Age, though no bones were found in it. Local legend has it that this site is where Macduff slew Macbeth after he had murdered King Duncan, to take his throne.
In the paddock adjacent to Belmont Castle is a granite standing stone of just under one metre in height. The stone leans slightly to the south west and has no carvings or markings. The site was excavated in 1855 but nothing of note was detected.
Sited just off the Ardler Road at the entrance to the Belmont Centre, Macbeth’s Stone is a 3.6 metre high standing stone said to be about 20 tonnes in weight. It is the largest of several in the area.
It is decorated with cup marks on all sides, with around 40 on the east face and 24 on the west, as well as a further two cupmarks low down on the south face and a single cupmark on the north face. This implies that the stone was always intended to be placed upright and to be viewed on all sides.
Duff’s Knowe was a burial mound close to the Camno crossroads. Unfortunately the tumulus was destroyed and only some stones from the structure remain, although no longer in situ.
In folklore, this burial mound (probably a round barrow) is thought of as the tomb of King Arthur’s Queen, Guinevere, known locally as Vanora. It is said that she was disloyal to her husband, captured, imprisoned on nearby Barrie Hill and torn to death by a pack of dogs.
It is thought by some that this legend was depicted on the Pictish carved (Vanora's) stone in the museum (Meigle 2), although the engravings are more likely to be those of Daniel in the Lions den. The stone was originally located next to the burial mound. There is a local tale that any woman who walks over Vanora’s Mound will become infertile.
A Pictish symbol stone showing an animal (wolf or bear), double disc Z rod and circle stands on the remains of a mound (probably a Bronze Age tumulis). Several cists are said to have been discovered in the mound and it is also noted (in 1856) that 'ancient sepulchral remains' were found in the nearby field. No trace remains of the medieval Keillor chapel, which was thought to have been close to this site.
Evidence of an Iron Age settlement in Meigle was uncovered recently by an archaeological excavation, aided by drone photography, that was carried out before the construction of the Strathmore Meadows housing development on the outskirts of the village.
The site was described as 'multi-phase' with early structures including an outer enclosure ditch, cremation, larger enclosure ditch, and a series of internal structures.
This phase was followed by a late Iron Age settlement with a substantial souterrain and at least nine distinguishable structures or buildings - including three round houses - and several extensive areas of stone paving, pits, and truncated postholes. These structures were extensively recorded and cleared. Recovered artifacts included Roman (Samian) pottery, rotary querns and miscellaneous objects including two metal pins.
Souterrains are partially subterranean structures which, within Tayside, take the form of a tightly curved, C-shaped, tunnel. They vary in length from 12 to 52 metres, and from 1.2 to 3.6 metres in height. Most are of stone construction and include corbelling to hold the cap stone or lintel roofing stones in place. They may have one or more entrances, paved floors and reused neolithic carved (cup and ring marked) stones placed within them.
It is not known what role these monuments played in the societies that built them, but suggestions to their primary function include spiritual practices, refuge, defence, ritual, or storage for cereals and/or dairy products. It is estimated, largely through aerial photographs, that there are more than 430 souterrain sites in Tayside.
The souterrain in Meigle attracted considerable attention and Souterrain Crescent is named in its honour. The souterrain is in fact the second one reported in the village, the other being about 100 metres away near the Manse, which was recorded in 1878 during house building.