Two circles and a low cairn off an unfenced road in W Tiree.
The N circle is is an oval 33 x 40m. 10 stones – one upright and the rest fallen or stumps.
The S circle is close to the cairn and measures 40m diameter. 12 stones – fallen or stumps.
The cairn is 7m diameter by 0.7 m high.
In the car park of Grannie’s Heilan’ Hame pub and holiday park in Embo. Strangely, their website does not mention the cairn as an onsite attraction.
Originally cairn covering two circular chambers. Chamber stones still visible.
1.5m high stone standing on a low cairn just east of the A87 above Uig.
This stone is approx 2m high and 1m broad. The weathering on the top of the stone indicates it’s antiquity. It has been damaged by the fire and will no doubt suffer further damage once the frost begins to permiate the cracks caused by the intense heat of the fire.
There is another large standing stone on the moor which is taller and narrower, but the Mighty Graeme C informs me that this is a recent addition to the moor’s topography.
This ring cairn is a low lying feature in the landscape, it is composed of smallish stones and is approx 12m in diameter. I was unable to capture a decent photo of the feature as there appears to be no banking. I have posted a picture of a standing stone that sits on the margin of the cairn and appears to be part of the monument, possibly a headstone.
On the left just past the Twatt junction going to Birsay this stone can clearly be seen out in the open near the base of Ravie Hill . Unable to match the sighting precisely on the map . CANMAP shows tumuli , mounds etc. in this general area but not this feature . Alas I have a strong idea that its prominence is owing to it being one of many fakes placed as landscaping in the Orkneys at the end of the 20th century .
RCAHMS NMRS No. HY22NE 3 at HY25312629.
Other names Stanger and the Stone o’Quoybune .
On the corner of the road junction before the Birsay Community Centre looking very forlorn . Looks very plain even for a standing stone .
Similar to Calf of Eday NW.
10m diameter cairn covering passage and four-part chamber (both accessible).
20 x 8.2m long cairn covering two chambers – round one at W end and long stalled one running from centre to E end.
Just off the B864 near Lairg. Forestry track on other side of the road for parking.
Circular cairn roughly 21m diameter with a chamber and some facade stones visible.
Chambered tomb with no cairn. Parking on the verge just north of the site.
Two cairns, probably chambered – the N being in better condition standing some 5m high.
Plenty of parking available on the minor road running N from the site.
When Hampshire Treasures describe this as “overgrown” they’re not joking! The site of the barrow is easily seen from the road as it is crowned by Yew trees.Closer to, it seems to be surrounded by a very overgrown hedge but after struggling through this it becomes apparent that it is Ivy clad scrub growing on the outside and partly down the very well defined ditches. The barrow itself is the shortest “Long” barrow I’ve seen and has a very dumpy appearance, however its actual outline is difficult to determine as the Yews are falling over, re-layering and/or rotting and there are huge mounds of fresh chalk everywhere caused by active badger setts. The ditches are heavily weed infested and a winter visit left me picking burrs out of my clothes for some time.
What does one do about a site like this? Clear it of the untidy scrub and dead trees and restore it to some of the majesty it had when first constructed or leave it to gently decay and remain the undoubted wild-life sanctuary it surely has become?
Disabled: Parking on small verge just off the road. Walk up-hill on very deeply rutted track (Much used by off-roaders while I was there), locked farm gate, ploughed field, many brambles and much scrub and uneven ground.
Visited 24th August 2003: Is this one site or two? Nobody seems to know for sure. We parked up right next to the north eastern section of the site, and while Alfie dozed in the car we tried to figure out what went where. Like Cashtal yn Ard there’s a forcourt, a clearly visible tomb entrance, and a long denuded cairn with chambers, but in this case the road cuts the end off.
On the other side of the road is the south western section of King Orry’s Grave, and this may or may not be part of the same cairn. The solitary standing stone is thought to be the last of the stones that defined the arced wall of yet another forecourt (this suggests to me that the two sites aren’t part of the same tomb).
Both parts of the site are difficult to interpret. Luckily there are big information boards on both sides of the road with reconstructive illustrations on them (slightly fanciful, but still useful). If you plan on visiting King Orry’s Grave, I’d recommend getting hold of a plan beforehand. It will help.
Another site with access arrangments under the Dumfries and Galloway Archaeosights scheme building on work already done by the Carsphairn Heritage Centre.
Not that easy to find though.
Drive to almost the end of the metalled road alongside Water of Deugh. At August 2003, the sign had fallen but the stile is the giveaway. Once over the fence you need to search about a bit for the forest track marked with boards. Halfway up, you emerge in a forest ride. Cross over going slightly to the right for the rest of the track (more boards).
The site is in a clearing at the top of this section. It is a cairn of the Bargrennan type with two chambers almost back-to-back.
A really impressive barrow indeed. While not as long as Knap Barrow next door, it is much higher and quite overwhelms close to. Very well preserved with a remarkably smooth outline like a large whale breaking the surface. Interesting that its orientation is almost at right-angles to its companion. Mostly clear of scrub growth although it is encroaching from the north.
Disabled: As Knap although both would be accessible by a 4x4. Open farm gate.
Long cairn 30m in length with no visible chambers. A modern cairn has been added and parts of it have been used for lambing pens. More impressive from a distance than up close!
You can approach it though as it the Southern Upland Way runs close by and access across the intervening fields has been arranged as part of Dumfries and Galloway’s Archaeosights arrangements.
You might be able to get permission to park at Balmurrie Farm but I parked at the cattle grid at roughly NX203658.
Can easily be combined with a visit to Caves of Kilhern.
A unassuming little stone just over a metre high marking the tip of a point where the Wilts boundary takes dog-tooth shaped bite out of Hants. Grim’s Ditch1 mile to the NE points directly to this stone but to the NW seems to want nothing to do with it. Marked with an Ordnance Survey carving and accompanied by a small Victorian concrete boundary (?) post. The stone itself seems to be of the generic “Sarsen” type so was probably moved some distance.
Disabled: Approach by car along a flat, slightly rutted track (care in very wet weather) and park next to stone on grassy triangle without blocking the tracks. Access to Grans Barrow and Knap Barrow is best attempted from here for the more mobile.
As Mr Sweet has said, this is in the grounds of a school, so ensure that you ask before visiting. This is a large, almost triangular stone, around 8 feet tall, with no visible markings.
This stone is now recumbent, lying a few metres from where it once stood on a patch of rough ground and gorse. I spoke to the farmer, who said it had been moved there after it fell some number of years ago, and he is currently musing about re-erecting it. It would stand around 8 feet tall if he does so, it’s a fairly solid piece of whinstone!
This site is just off the Southern Upland Way and can be freely accessed thanks to Dumfries and Galloway’s Archaeosights access arrangements.
Park on the road running NW from New Luce at NX192650 (plenty of room).
Cairn with four chambers visible, one with capstone.
This has several similarities to the West Kennet Long Barrow. For a start, a slow climb up the hill with the barrow invisible until the last moment, then its length is comparable, being only a few metres shorter and its orientation as (very!) roughly E/W. No stones unfortunately, only a little Victorian concrete post at the E end. The condition is good with none of the mutilation seen at the WKLB evident. Only one worry is that the track to the S. beloved of off-roaders, is not fenced off and is perilously close. A small amount of scrub clearance at the W end would be an improvement. Wide views to the N and prominent tumuli on the skyline to the S. Grans Barrow is very close by. A fine and well preserved site but very exposed in winter gales as I found out!
Disabled: Longish walk up hill in rutted and grassy track if approaching from the Sarsen stone. Note.. Take the left track of the two going south.
According to CANMORE, this is a cairn, approximately 19m in diameter, with a single standing stone on the SSW quadrant. The field was full of bullocks today, so discretion kicked in and I couldn’t confirm the stone itself, having to be content with a couple of rather atmospheric photographs of the cairn looming out of the mist. There are a couple of projecting stones which show up fairly clearly, which the CANMORE researcher thought might be part of a kerb.
Literally feet away from the circle here is a large cup marked rock, with around fourteen cup marks and the vague outlines of a couple of rings. It used to be in the centre of the circle before the circle was moved to its present position.
The exact grid references for the sites are
– Girdle Stanes NY254961
– Loupin Stanes NY257966
Access to the sites is now freely available under Dumfries & Galloway’s Archaeosights scheme. The sights are signposted from the road. Parking seems to be allowed in the nearby hotel.
