Outlander fans damaging standing stones '˜performing seances'

A Bronze Age stone circle in the Highlands has seen its fair share of visitors after it featured in timetraveling TV show Outlander.
Star Caitriona Balfe touches the Clava Cairns in TV series Outlander. Picture: APStar Caitriona Balfe touches the Clava Cairns in TV series Outlander. Picture: AP
Star Caitriona Balfe touches the Clava Cairns in TV series Outlander. Picture: AP

But it appears to have been a mixed blessing after visitors to the Clava Cairns reported an increase of graffiti and road blockages.

Visits by fans of the fantasy series - who perform mock seances at the site - have increased since the standing stones first appeared in the programme.

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Star Caitriona Balfe plays a nurse who is transported from 1945 to the Jacobite risings in 1743 after she touches the ancient monument.

Andrew Mcalindon, an actor and tour guide for Highlander Tours, told The Times that CCTV should be installed near the stones to protect them from damage.

Members of the Inverness Outlanders group on Facebook have also decried the spoiling of the site.

One member, Wendy Ford wrote: “Every time I am there, other tour groups are climbing all over the stones. I always tell them to get down. No one has any respect any more.

“No one has any respect anymore!”

Fans have also been seen holding seances at the cairns - ancient burial sites dating back to the Bronze Age - attempting to commune with Jamie Fraser, a fictional character from the 18th century created by author Diana Gabaldon who is one of the main protagonists of the Outlander TV series.