One of the many standing stones encircling Knocklayd mountain, with the possible passage tomb 'carn an truagh' (cairn of woe) on its summit. This cairn marks the intersection of the ten townlands surrounding Knocklayd.
The stone is quite easy to find, on a small B road which branches off the main A44 from Armoy to Ballycastle. Just beyond the little crossroads at the hamlet of Cape Castle, the stone can be seen on the slope of a field about 300m to the east of this road, behind a derelict house.
Impressively situated, and leaning slightly to the south, the stone, like many in the area is of schist/quartzite, and the top half is encrusted with lichen. It stands around 2.25m tall, just over 1m thick at the base, tapering to about 0.3m at the top. From the side it is around 0.4m thick, giving the stone a slightly slab-like apperarance from the WSW. In fact the stone seems to be aligned from WSW-ESE, in line with the cairn on the summit of Knocklayd, which looms over the site.
I visited the site on November 2nd, and was treated to a moonrise over the summit of Knocklayd, whilst the sun set opposite. Moments like these make all the trudging about worthwhile.
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Posted by minipixel
3rd November 2006ce
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Details of the re-erection of the stone in 1993. I take back what I said about the lack of finesse, the concrete was intended to be hidden. It just obviously didn't work out...
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Posted by minipixel
23rd August 2006ce
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Situated in a sloping field in the Glenshesk valley at the foot of Knocklayd mountain, just under 2km from another stone in Breen forest. Unfortunately the stone was toppled by a bull, according to the resident farmer and has been very crudely reset in concrete, with no real finesse. According to the NI Environment & Heritage Service, it once stood on top of a small mound, 17m in diameterx0.3m high. The mound was excavated, and was found to predate the stone.
The stone is 1.9m tall, and approx 0.5m wide, appears to be basalt, and has a quite interesting shape from certain angles. I'm not sure if the stone broke when toppled, or if it has always been this way.
The site is marked in the OS map, about 3-400m up a gated farm track just off the B15 from Armoy to Ballycastle, which winds along the Glenshesk valley. I was lucky enough to catch the farmer at work, who was kind enough to point out the stone, which isn't visible from the road.
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Posted by minipixel
22nd August 2006ce
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There is a photograph of the site on this page, which shows the field in a less overgrown state. The pile of stones around its base is much more clearly visible.
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Posted by minipixel
22nd August 2006ce
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