This has been fenced off. April 10th Radio Orkney had an item about the protection (they have now also covered it with matting owing to rabbit damage) but don't say whether still accessible to the public. Fence visible on this pic http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/128081/great_sacred_monuments_of_stenness.html latest pic, Salt Knowe on the left
Geophysics has revealed that thiis is not a chambered cairn but more like Silbury Hill, as with a site at Dunragit in Dumfries and Galloway, the BA cist and animal bones from ?feasting towards the top being later additions http://www.orkneyjar.com/archaeology/saltknowe.htm
Gorgeous day at Brodgar. I walked over to the huge mound of Salt Knowe, still currently fenced off, to see how the anti-rabbit proofing was getting on. It didn't take long before I had my answer, as several families of bunnies could be seen happily enjoying the sunshine on the slopes of the mound.
The green matting used to cover the Knowe currently gives it a threadbare appearance, and several holes leading to burrows were clearly visible gnawed through the mesh, so it looks like a rethink may be in order!
This Barrow is huge – approximately 30 metres across x 3 metres high.
An information board stated that it has never been excavated and it is thought that there may be a passage grave inside. The barrow is comparable in size to Maeshowe.
I see Wideford states it has been surveyed so the info board is out of date.
You get a good view of the Ring of Brodgar from the top of the Barrow.
I couldn’t see ant trace of the cist – perhaps it has grown over?
It's in a terrible state, what were rabbit scrapes is now an extensive burrow system - it would be better excavated before it becomes a complete unstratifiable mess
Behind the Ring of Brodgar in the RH corner of the field there is a cist-like structure at the top of this mound, though all I could locate on my visit was the turf-covered edge of a long horizontal slab at the side facing the loch. During an excavation nine pieces of silver 'ring-money' were found.