Almost didn’t visit this one as it involved a bit of a detour on the way home. Glad I did though.
Nothing spectacular. Just a nice little Clyde cairn with a sketchy axial and two well-defined lateral chambers.
Access. Easy. Park opposite house in large passing place. One gate. Gentle climb.
Visited 27 September 2004
This was a disappointing chambered cairn. What I had read had led me to expect that more would be visible.
All that you can now see of what was the longest chamber in Kintyre are a few stones poking through the grass.
The standing stone is a beauty though especially when viewed in atmospheric misty weather. Just a fraction over 5m high.
Access. There is a parking area at the foot of the track up to the farm. Steep but short climb. One fence.
Visited 27 September 2004
Two standing stones plus one fallen one. They may originally have been part of a stone circle.
The taller standing stone is 1.4m high.
Access. Drive past Clochkeil Farm and park at the point where the road to the beach turns off to the left. Walk NW towards the stones which are hidden in a dip. No obstacles apart from cattle grids.
Visited 27 September 2004
A well-preserved and spectacularly-situated dun.
Signposted from car park opposite.
Probably the best chambered cairn in Kintyre.
A fully developed E-facing Clyde cairn with a good facade, an axial chamber and three lateral chambers all in reasonable nick.
It sits in a wide forestry clearing and, as usual at this time of the year, was covered with bracken which not only takes away the line of the cairn but also means the chambers cannot be seen as a group.
Access. Off a forest road which is also a cycle path but not generally open to traffic. As I visited it on a holiday weekend when there was no tree clearing, I was able to drive most of the way – which is just as well as it’s an 8 mile round trip from the car park at NR780278.
From the car park, you can visit Kildonan Bay dun and about 1.5 miles along the forest road is Ardnacross I chambered cairn.
Visited 26 September 2004
The quite substantial remains of two chambers of this Clyde cairn can be seen in a forestry clearing.
No cairn or facade remains but it is possible that the chamber to the N (orientated just E of N) is the axial chamber and that to the S is a lateral chamber entered from the W.
The cairn is on the way to the more interesting Gort na H-Ulaidhe. See access details there.
As you reach the location of the cairn along the forest road, you will come to the start of a young plantation on the right. Head right up a rough vehicle track at this point to where the ground levels out. The cairn is in a clearing to the left and should be visible from here.
Visited 26 September 2004
A not-very-interesting stone with supposedly 29 cup marks near Ardnacross I.
Visited 26 September 2004
There are a number of good chambered cairns on Kintrye worth seeking out – but this isn’t one of them. It’s near the road but that’s the best that can be said for it.
Very ruined and in deep bracken in the summer, it has half a facade and about one eighth of a chamber which, unusually, faces W.
Lochorodale 1 is in the forest at NR659162 and was not visited.
Visited 25 September 2004
This is a bit of an enigma.
IronMan has posted it as a stone alignment. Canmore (with reservations) calls it a chambered cairn with the westward-facing large stones possibly being part of a facade.
The area behind the tall stones has accumulated some field clearance but plans from 30 years ago show two large prostrate (ie not groundfast) stones at right angles to the upright stones possibly enhancing the case for a chambered cairn. The area here also includes a large capstone-like stone.
The arguments against a chambered cairn are the W orientation (but see Lochorodale 2) and the fact that the upright stones are almost touching. But then you rarely get stones that close in a stone alignment.
You pays your money... It’s not a wonderful site and probably only worth a visit alongside Blasthill.
Access: Level and no obstacles. Down a track from Macharioch farm.
Visited 25 September 2004
This Clyde cairn is the nearest Scottish chambered cairn to Ireland (just over 20 miles as the crow flies) and Ireland is visible from the cairn (but not in the direction of its orientation). So it may not be surprising that it bears some resemblance to its Irish cousin the court cairn.
It has a deeply crescentic facade which doesn’t quite reach the long edges of the cairn – themselves lined with visible edging stones. However, to maintain its Clyde credentials, it has a lateral chamber in addition to the axial chamber.
The stones are quite low (maximum 0.7m) but it’s still an impressive site.
Access. Ask permission at Macharioch Farm not Blasthill. Access is from a track opposite Kilbride (NR718088).
Visited 25 September 2004
A return visit here to consider the site in the context of Clyde cairn development theory – see photo caption.
One point to add to the previous access notes is that the visitor-friendly signpost has now gone.
Visited 27 September 2004
I decided not to visit this one up close for reasons which may be obvious from the posted photo.
Anyway, it looks as if it’s been mucked about a bit with field clearance and the best views are probably from where the photo was taken which is the road to the S.
Visited 9 September 2004
This long cairn, unlike many in SW Scotland, has not been mucked about to build sheep pens or field walls. It is therefore a good, well-preserved and easily accessible example of this type of monument.
It sits in an elevated position (170m) near a stream in a forest clearing which to the W is currently new plantation – so the views SW to Bogrie Hill (432m) are maintained.
Surrounded at the time of my visit with chest-high bracken – not the best time to go there!
Access Park opposite Barr House (NX833923) where permission can be obtained. Walk NE up the track towards the loch shortly before which the cairn becomes visible on the right.
Visited 9 September 2004
This site and Lochhill were two, originally featureless, long cairns which were excavated in the 70s and shown to have an interesting sequence of development built around a mortuary enclosure (see Miscellaneous).
The site sits in the middle of a forest but in a wide clearing.
Some of the features have been destroyed as part of the excavation process necessary to get down to the basal layers to identify the mortuary enclosure but the facade is still well defined.
The features in the central area are now largely covered in vegetation but three of the standing stones are still visible. Not sure about the fourth.
Not too easy a site to get to and not too spectacular to look at but, if you like that sort of thing, worth the trouble due to its rarity – especially as nothing remains to be seen at Lochhill.
Access Off a forest road but a long way in from the nearest public road. The alternative I adopted was to approach from the W.
Boreland Hill Cottages (NX922607) are holiday cottages which you can drive to if they are not occupied – ask permission at Boreland of Southwick farm. A track leads N then it’s E over an easy stream and some rough ground as you enter the forestry ride leading to the site.
It was interesting to visit this site after looking at possible protomegaliths at Cairnholy.
There is no sign of a cairn. The rectangular burial chamber has four pillars about 1.5m high arranged one at each corner like a four-poster bed.
A possible undeveloped protomegalith?
Visited 8 September 2004
In search of the protomegalith
This was one of several visits to this wonderful, evocative and photogenic pair of Clyde cairns. Today’s visit was enhanced by being the only visitors for nearly one hour and some of the bluest skies I have seen for a long time.
In addition to the usual pleasures, this trip had a specific purpose: to examine the theory of Clyde cairn evolution and the role of the protomegalith.
This theory suggests that some cairns did not develop beyond the early stages while others were built as fully-developed versions.
At Cairnholy, it is possible to see all the evolutionary stages. See one of the picture captions for more details.
Visited 8 September 2004
Balfarg Riding School Mortuary Enclosures
Situated between the Balfarg henge and the Balbirnie stone circle, this reconstructed site comprises a sub-rectangular ring of posts with an inner “avenue” of thicker posts.
It has been interpreted as a mortuary enclosure in which the inner posts would hold platforms on which the dead would be laid out to be defleshed before burial.
The reconstruction is one of two similar buildings excavated in the area – the other, almost identical, site being some 70m to the SW.
These monuments went out of use around 3200bce and a henge (earlier than the main henge at Balfarg) was built around the area which now houses the reconstructed mortuary enclosure.
This is one of the few Hebridean Passage Graves to be located on the mainland. It is close to the Isle of Skye so not far away from the usual territory.
The most visible remains are a capstone partly covering the small rectangular chamber. Traces of the E-facing passage can also be seen.
Excavation in 1965 showed that the cairn had been enlarged from a round one to a square one and that a facade had probably been added to the E side of the cairn. An interesting change of design which would bring it closer to a Clyde cairn layout.
Near the roadside just E of Dun Telve and Dun Troddan.
Visited 25 July 2004
There are two Hebridean Passage Graves to be seen in Benbecula – this one and Airidh na h-Aon Oidche. They are within 400m of each other and intervisible.
Stiaraval, which has lost most of its cairn, has a typical layout. A passage entered from the SE leading to a circular chamber.
The stones are impressive. One passage stone is about 3m long and there are chamber stones over 1m tall.
Impressive views to the S. As is the case with many cairns in the area, the builders of Stiaraval chose the slope of a low hill as the location rather than 25m further up on the summit.
Definitely worth a visit.
Access. Drive E at the crossroads at NF805536 and park at the landfill site. A path running alongside the fence heads S in the direction of the cairn. On the way is the Rueval Stone at NF812532.
The cairn can be accessed from the track which runs E from NF805536.
Some of the cairn material has been used to build sheilings.
The nearby cairn mentioned by Billmac is Stiaraval.
Visited 29 July 2004
This is a long cairn, its most prominent feature being a 3m stone leaning at a great angle. Other stones are visible in the turf suggesting the line of a chamber.
Interpretation is difficult especially as all but the S end of the cairn has been covered in sheep fanks. The tall stone may be part of a facade linked to the chamber.
In its favour, access is easy. Park at the church then through a gate. But there are a lot more interesting sites than this one to spend time at.
Visited 29 July 2004
This Hebridean Passage Grave sits on a small tidal islet. In the neolithic the three islands were one landmass and the watery landscape which characterises the Uists today did not come into effect until about 2000 bce.
Traces of the passage and chamber on the islet with several peristaliths visible at tide level.
Access. Parking ok on the approach road. Through one gate then over a tricky barbed wire fence to the shore.
Visited 29 July 2004
Another example of where a bit of signposting might demonstrate that the Uist tourist authorities recognised they had some wonderful sites which they might want to share with their visitors.
This 5.3m tall stone looks a little like an arrow head – it narrows near the foot then tapers at the top.
Great views – pity about the weather on our visit though.
Visited 29 July 2004
Another reasonably undisturbed Hebridean Passage Grave with a good many peristaliths visible.
The passage area has been exposed at the top of the cairn but not entered. Like Barpa Langass, the cairn sits on the slope of a low hill rather than some 35m further up on the summit. The passage (ESE) points obliquely towards the hill.
If you only have limited time on the Uists, this would be one to visit.
Access. You can drive up the track which runs N of the cairn. It gets a bit rough but there is room for turning/parking at the gate near the cairn.
Visited 28 July 2004
Another Hebridean Passage Grave, this one a bit of a wreck. It sits in a long mound with the passage unusually orientated S.
For access and directions – see Dun Bharpa.
Visited 28 July 2004
The privately-funded excavation of Kilpheder in 1952 by Tom Lethbridge with the help of a local skipper helped bring about an awareness of this class of monument.
Sadly, there is little to be seen at the site now other than the tops of some wall courses.
Access. Drive NW along the track from Cille Phaidair village until you reach a crossroads. Park here. Continue walking NW for about 200m. The site is in a mound on your right.
Visited 29 July 2004
Shhhhh. This site is a secret.
It is probably the best preserved example of a very rare kind of Scottish site and this is just about the only place you will find a reference to it*. It’s not even on Canmore.
North Uist with its total indifference to heritage tourism seems not to have heard of it. There are no references to it in its tourist literature and there are no signposts or paths at the site.
Wheelhouses (see Miscellaneous for a more complete definition) date from the Iron Age and are roughly contemporary with brochs. They are found only in the Western Isles and Shetland.
I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story. Definitely recommended for anyone visiting the Uists.
Access It’s not a difficult site to find but it is not visible until you come upon it so a good map or a GPS will help. Start by skirting the E (right) side of the cottage situated at the NW end of Loch Shornaraigh. Cross between the two inlets and head for the higher ground in front of you. Once up there, turn right through the gate and keep going for about 200m. It should be in a dip in front of you.
*One other source is the excellent but probably out-of-print The Lost Wheelhouses of Uist by Susan Hothersall and Robert Tye (2000). The definition of a Wheelhouse given below bears a strong resemblance to that given in this publication.
Visited 27 July 2004
There are two surviving chambered cairns on Barra – Dun Bharpa and Balnacraig. As they are only 800m apart, both can be easily visited together. This is by far the more interesting of the two.
As it is relatively undisturbed, it is one of the best examples of how a Hebridean Passage Grave would look once it had been sealed up and fallen out of regular use.
The cairn is about 5m high with many peristaliths still in place. The passage and chamber have not been opened but their location can be determined by the position of roofstones visible on top of the cairn.
Given the height of the cairn, the passage/chamber must either be located high in the cairn or, more intriguingly, be furnished with very tall sidestones.
Access. We drove up the metalled road to the museum which leaves the main road at NF656019 but stopped when the houses stop as the track looked a bit rough after that. It was.
After that it’s a bit of a stiff climb up to the cairn with a few fences to cross.
However, when we reached the cairn (from the SW), we noticed what looked like the posts of a waymarked track approaching from the NW and continuing to Balnacraig. I don’t know where in Barra it starts but it might be worth checking out.
Visited 28 July 2004
Having read Canmore and other reports before the visit, I had expected to be underwhelmed by this site.
Comments like “has been much disturbed by secondary buildings and its present form bears little relationship to its original plan” do not raise expectations.
To my eyes, what you actually get is a well fairly well preserved Hebridean Passage Grave with a lintelled passage plus chamber with a few side stones still standing a most of the rest fallen into the chamber.
Any secondary building was limited to the outside cairn material and, reading the reports again after the visit, maybe that’s what they meant.
But don’t be put off. This is a site worth visiting especially if you’ve come to see Clettraval anyway.
Visited 27 July 2004
A 1.5m standing stone about 200m S of Clettraval chambered cairn and on the way to Tigh Cloiche.
Not much else you can say about it apart from the splendid view.
Access – see Clettraval
Visited 27 July 2004
This is a cairn which seems to have lost its way.
It’s a Clyde Cairn in the heart of Hebridean Passage Grave territory. Probably not the only Clyde Cairn in the area admittedly but the one with the most positive identification.
Quite a lot to see here especially if the nearby standing stone at South Clettraval and the slightly further away Hebridean Passage Grave at Tigh Cloiche are included.
Clettraval consists of an unusually long five-compartment chamber facing E and a straight facade of fallen stones running N/S (best preserved in the S). An Iron Age wheel house, not very well preserved, has been built in the W end of the cairn. It was excavated in 1934 (see Link).
The views from here are splendid – even on a cloudy day. The cairn sits on he 100m contour and, to the S, are the low-lying Lochs Bhaghasaraidh and Steaphain.
Access is very easy. Drive up the metalled military road which runs E from the crossroads at NF718722 until you reach the first radio mast where there is parking. The cairn can be seen in the field opposite.
Visited 27 July 2004
Not the best preserved Hebridean Passage Grave on North Uist but one of the more accessible. For access and other sites in the area see Carinish.
Not much of the chamber and none of the passage is visible.
It is unusually housed in a long cairn which, viewed on the approach, is still rather impressive. Typically, it faces E where the cairn may have been horn-shaped.
Some of the peristaliths are still visible especially on its N side.
Visited 27 July 2004
Most of this large stone elipse (39.6 x 35.1m) probably sits under peat.
The largest stone to the E has been cleared of peat and, although flooded on our visit, there was at least as much stone visible below the peat as the 1.2m which stands above it.
From spacing, it has been estimated that there would have been about 50 stones originally.
It will have been intervisible with Pobull Fhinn – about 1.5 miles to the NE.
For access – see Craonaval North.
Visited 26 July 2004
Another Hebridean Passage Grave.
This one gets into the record books as having the largest chamber of this type of monument – 6.0 x 3.7m. An oval which sits along the same axis as the passage.
Enough of the side stones are still visible to indicate its size and the remains of the massive slabs needed to roof a chamber of this size can be seen lying about.
For access – see Craonaval North.
Visited 26 July 2004
Bit of a confession here – we got the wrong site.
We were looking for Ultach Fhinn and we were also heading for secure ground following the disappointment of not getting to Oban Nam Fiadh when we came across this recumbent stone.
Not where Ultach Fhinn should be according to the GPS and only about half the length. But GPS’s (or Canmore) have been wrong and one end of the stone was well buried in peat.
What’s the chances of there being two large recumbents in this area, I reasoned. This must be Ultach Fhinn. Wrong – as I discovered when we were back home.
Pity. I’d liked to have seen the real Ultach Fhinn.
The site name translates, intriguingly, as “slab of the month old little one”.
There are actually two recumbents at this site each resting on smaller stones. Beveridge (1911) thought they marked an ancient burial. Canmore (1965 entry) says they could be natural but how would that explain the supporting stones?
Visited 26 July 2004
We didn’t actually get to this site!
Which is a pity because it looked good on paper. A well-defined passage and chamber with two capstones still in place but lacking a covering cairn. The best chambered cairn in this group of sites!
We didn’t get there because it would have involved crossing some of the scariest, marshiest ground I have encountered. As we came down from Craonaval, we dropped from the 50m highest point to somewhere between 10 and 20m where it started to feel like we were walking on lumpy custard. There was no way round it so we retreated quickly.
It had been raining heavily in the few days before our visit so it may not always be like this. Nevertheless, TAKE CARE WHEN VISITING THIS SITE.
Not visited 26 July 2004
Although described by Henshall as “unclassified chamber, round cairn” it looks just like an example of a Clyde cairn.
(The main difference between Clyde cairns and Hebridean Passage Graves – or, indeed, any other form of Scottish chambered cairn – is that Clyde cairns have no passage. The chambers start at the edge of the cairn.)
North Uist may seem a long way from Clyde cairn territory but nearby Clettraval is widely accepted as being a Clyde cairn. It has the more usual long cairn but Clyde round cairns do exist.
The edge of the cairn at Craonaval is not easy to see because of the vegetation but the two-compartment rectangular chamber is clearly visible.
Visited 26 July 2004
There are several sites on the Craonabhal ridge – none spectacular in themself but together they made for an interesting afternoon’s ramble.
In addition to this site, you can visit Craonaval, Loch Glen na Feannag, Oban Nam Fiadh, Ultach Fhinn, Leac A’ Mhiosachan and Sornach a’ Phobuill.
There is parking for two cars off the track at NF834634.
Craonaval North is the first site you come to in this group – some 200m to the right (W) of the gate at the top of the track.
It is the least interesting of the four chambered cairns in this grouping.
Visited 26 July 2004
Nice site with some very big stones but difficult to know what to make of it. The stone on the E that has been claimed as a recumbent could just be another of the large stones which has fallen.
I spent longer here than I probably should have trying to mentally reconstruct this site. Good fun though.
Visited 14 March 2005
Rarely have I spent so long looking at a site before visiting it but this one can be clearly seen from the beer garden of the Langass Lodge where we had lunch.
Aubrey Burl (see Rhiannon’s post) says it “has one of the loveliest settings of any stone circle” and you have to agree. It’s something about it being set into the hill so you can get above it for a full view of the circle and the watery landscape beyond it.
And its design is interesting with its two portal entrances.
Nice one.
There is a waymarked trail starting from the Lodge which takes in this site and Barpa Langass.
Barpa (pronounced Varpa) Langass – Cairn on the long ridge
This was my first trip to the Outer Hebrides. We came off the morning ferry and straight to this site – the only Hebridean Passage Grave covered by a cairn which can be entered. Might as well get the best one in first.
It sits in a wonderful location, as others have said, but there is a mystery.
Why does it sit on the 50m contour, some 40m below the summit of the hill and why does the entrance face into the hillside? These are unusual features for passage graves but they occur in a number of Hebridean sites so it presumably is deliberate.
We stayed there for about one hour with me nipping back into the chamber in between the steady stream of visitors.
One of those visitors might appreciate Rhiannon’s post. She entered the chamber not knowing I was in there until I spoke to her. Never seen anyone leave a chamber so quickly. ” I thought you were the man from 2000 years ago” she said when she recovered her cool. I didn’t correct her chronology.
Visited 26 July 2004
Quelle horeure! Chambered cairn meets Gardeners’ World.
Just for the record, what we have here are the W and N stones of a E facing chamber. Of curiosity value only but, depending on where you park, you’ll pass it on the way to The MacLeod Stone.
Visited 30 July 2004
King Edward VII was, I suspect, completely unaware of it but a perfectly good chambered cairn was largely destroyed and used to build the base of a flagpole to commemorate his visit to Stornoway in 1902.
On the day of our visit, it’s 28 degrees. That’s hot for me. We should be enjoying cold drinks in the grounds of Stornoway Castle but, instead, we slowly wind our way up the spiral path to Gallows Hill to see the remains of this cairn.
Not much to see really. Some chamber and passage stones and one peristalith. There may be more but the vegetation is high. No flagpole left either.
What is interesting is that this cairn (and the few others visited in Lewis), when intact, were clearly meant to be seen from a distance. They are all in prominent positions with all-round views.
Contrast this with the chambered cairns in Uist which are frequently positioned on the sides of hills.
Visited 2 August 2004
Compared to the Uists, there are few chambered cairns on Lewis and Harris and this, on paper anyway, looked like the best surviving and so worth a visit. Helpfully, it’s on a waymarked trail (of sorts).
On the Eye Peninsula, head for Garrabost. Turn right at (if I remember correctly) Graham Avenue at the top of which is a parking area leading to the start of the trail. The information board has been vandalised!.
The cairn is visible on the horizon which is just as well as some of the waymarked posts have fallen.
And it’s a good one.
The stones of the square cairn are clearly visible and you can still trace the forecourt, passage and chamber. Many of the remaining stones are over 1m and the tallest is 1.6m.
From its location on top of the hill there are all-round views.
Recommended.
Visited 2 August 2004
An elipse (28m x 21m) comprising 16 stones, all fallen and with seven visible in the peat cutting.
Great views all round although apparently no significant connections with the hills to the S associated with Callanish.
Visited 2 August 2004
Oh dear! The largest standing stone in Scotland; a bit of a tourist trap perhaps as well as a mecca for megalith hunters. Maybe, even, a second Callanish.
So what do you find when you get there? Well it’s signposted from the road but then you drive through a very unattractive area with rusting cars. And then no information at the stone itself. Doesn’t even say how big it is.
Given the good record of information boards located at other sites, you might have thought that the Lewis authorities would want to talk this one up a bit.
And there is a story to tell – apart from its height. See the Folklore and Miscellaneous postings here.
Now this absence of information should not have affected our visit since we had all the stuff from Canmore. Yet, somehow, I did not get the buzz from this site that others clearly have although I did enjoy searching around for the “lost stone circle”.
Visited 31 July 2004
Here’s my tuppence worth on this wonderfully-located but enigmatic site.
The circle of stones has one on the E facing slightly “into” the circle and, if the next one along had been present but the mirror image, they would have formed the shallow E-facing forecourt which is a common feature in Hebridean chambered cairns.
The large central stone would then be a backstone to the passage and chamber entered through this forecourt.
The only problem is that Audrey Henshall (who wrote two large volumes on the Chambered Tombs of Scotland) supports the view that it is a ruined building.
But what are Historic Scotland playing at? The signpost describes it as a homestead (which is what it is scheduled as) but the information board (one of the old ones) refers to it as a chambered cairn.
Visited 31 July 2004
Great location with spectacular all-round views just a little spoiled by telegraph poles punctuating the view to the S. Two stones remain standing out of the 18 which formed a large true circle (41m diameter). The peat has been cleared from the fallen stones.
Signposted from the road. Enter by the gate and head uphill to the right for the seat where there is an interpretation board.
Sleeping Beauty is visible from the site and the board makes two interesting points.
First, the stones are graded so that, when erect, the larger stones would have been at her head and feet (obviously this depends exactly where you stand to view it – there is no suggestion of a backmarker or outlier).
Second, from this position, her profile is different from that seen at Callanish and the inclusion of another hill gives her the appearance of being pregnant.
Visited 1 August 2004
No megalithic meditation here due to the proximity of the road. Perhaps best visited on a Sunday (ouch!).
Interesting double kerbed cairn which, from Canmore, appears to be how it was originally constructed. There is a central cist. Over 100 postholes were found under the cairn laid out in a trapezoidal shape. Interesting, especially as the axis of the cairn is aligned with and visible from the Callanish avenue.
Just a little north of the Curtis’ home and exhibition area. There’s a layby with interpretation board on the other side of the road.
Visited 31 July 2004
I parked at the crossroads S of the site then made the short stiff climb up from the main road. On reflection, it might have been better to park in Breascleit village and take the more level walk over the field.
Either way, you are rewarded with excellent views up and down the sea loch and over to Bernera.
Not much to see at the site. The N side and backstone of an E-oriented chamber remain.
Visited 31 July 2004