The four criteria for assessing class importance apply to small stone circles as follows:

Period (currency): Long-lived. The tradition of constructing small stone circles may have started in the Late Neolithic, but most date to the Early Bronze Age, a total duration of perhaps fifteen centuries.

Rarity: Rare. About 108 examples are currently known, although a programme of survey and excavation around standing and twin standing stones may reveal more which belong to the class.

Diversity (form): Medium. Three main types can be identified on the basis of the presence or absence of associated features, such as embankments and cairns, and the number of circles present.

Period (representativity): High. Small stone circles are one of several classes of relatively few Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age monuments. They are widely distributed and probably relate to more than one function.

Assigning scores to these criteria following the system set out in the Monument Evaluation Manual, large symmetrical stone circles yield a Class Importance Value of 42. This lies two thirds of the way up the range of possible values (max. = 64), reflecting the long currency and high diversity of the class. Examples representing the main types and those not yet disturbed should be included in the sample of nationally important sites.