<< Our Photo Pages >> Clach a' Charra - Standing Stone (Menhir) in Scotland in Sutherland
Submitted by NickiMacRae on Tuesday, 27 September 2011 Page Views: 6009
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Clach a' CharraCountry: Scotland
NOTE: This site is 3.492 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Sutherland Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Nearest Town: Dornoch
Map Ref: NH7164789493
Latitude: 57.876389N Longitude: 4.165836W
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
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The road / field boundary wall has been built around the stone in a u-shape, rather than the stone being absorbed into the wall, as often happens. The stone has obviously at some point been knocked down / fallen - there is a clear repair line a few inches from the ground, and I have added a link to the Dornoch Historylinks museum archieve, which shows the stone being resited in 1968 in some detail (and the stone previous to this in two halves). The stone has roughly four faces, becoming slightly pointed near the top.
On the furthest face from the road (facing roughly south) is one 'hole' - too deep to be called a cup mark. It seems to have more of a functional purpose than be decorative. The hole is almost a couple of inches deep, and placed and about 5ft up from the ground.
The Highland Council Archaeological Unit comment…
"Local tradition says the stone marks the grave of a 'Danish' chief; and Joass calls the hole a staple-hole and notes an associated 'swinging chafe' as if a 'jougs' or iron collar had hung from it." It seems a bit odd however that the criminal would be chained on the side of the stone facing away from the road? Surely such punishment would involve the accused being as easily visible as possible? Unless the route of the road has changed, or we are missing some other part of the jigsaw?
There seems to be some interesting stuff going on in fields immediately either side of the road and stone - recorded on the HER are cremations and urns, evidence of stone working, crop marks, a shell midden…
If visiting there isn't really an obvious spot to stop in anywhere near by, and the nearest disused gateway is chained off. Best to plan to park further away where you can (safely) and incorporate the stone into a little walk.
Highland Council Historic Environment Record
Photos of the resiting of the stone in 1968. The stone seems to have fallen / been taken down at some point - note the separated base and detail of repair.
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Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.