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<< Our Photo Pages >> Tiree Ringing Rock - Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature in Scotland in Isle of Tiree

Submitted by Andy B on Saturday, 22 July 2017  Page Views: 18859

Natural PlacesSite Name: Tiree Ringing Rock Alternative Name: Balaphetrish Gong Stone, Tiree Ringing Stone, Gaelic: Clach a' Choire, Clach Na Choire
Country: Scotland County: Isle of Tiree Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
Nearest Town: Scarinish  Nearest Village: Balephetrish
Map Ref: NM02684869
Latitude: 56.535843N  Longitude: 6.83802W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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markj99 visited on 28th Aug 2018 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 1 Tiree Ringing Rock, known locally as Clach a' Choire is an isolated erratic on the N coast of Tiree. The boulder is visually impressive with its numerous large cup marks; however, the ringing sound of the metallic stone adds an extra dimension.

Tiree Ringing Rock
Tiree Ringing Rock submitted by nosas : Photogrammetry view by James McComas June 17 (Vote or comment on this photo)
On a remote section of Tiree's coast west of Vaul can be found The Ringing Stone. This rock is actually an erratic carried by the ice, which covered Scotland during the last ice age, from the island of Rum to the north. The light grey granodiorite boulder is a much younger than anything found on Tiree, which is ancient Lewisian rock. The Ringing Stone has been decorated by dozens of cup markings.

The cupmarks must have some kind of religious significance dating back 4000 years but the precise purpose and meaning is unknown.

The following is taken from the transcript of Scotland's Music: A Radio History - Episode 1, very much worth listening to.

John Purser: This is the sound of the rock gong at Balaphetrish on the Hebridean island of Tiree. The rock’s about ten feet across and is being struck by small hand-held stones, and the sound you hear is the sound of the rock itself. It’s said that if it is ever moved, the island will sink back into the ocean. Not such a foolish thought. It’s a glacial erratic – a granite boulder shipped there by the ice. If the ice-cap melts or an ice age comes again – some say one, some the other – either way, Tiree might very well sink beneath the waves.

The Tiree rock gong is covered with prehistoric cup-marks; but when I first visited it, there were coins green with verdigris in a little hollow on the top, so it’s still being venerated after thousands of years. Most of us have put a coin in a fountain, even in a supermarket, and made a wish. Deep down we haven’t changed that much.
There are several of these rock gongs in Scotland, and this next one’s on the shore of Iona, not far from the Abbey.

For more information see Canmore id 21529. The Journal of Antiquities also includes a page for The Ringing Stone, Balephetrish, Tiree, Scotland, which includes a drawing of the stone, sources of information and local folklore.

Note: A lovely new 3D Model of the ringing stone - you can spin and zoom it, just a pity you can't 'ring' it! In the comments on our page.
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Tiree Ringing Rock
Tiree Ringing Rock submitted by nosas : Photogrammetry view by James McComas June 17 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tiree Ringing Rock
Tiree Ringing Rock submitted by markj99 : Site in Isle of Tiree Scotland One of the largest cup markings at the N face of the boulder (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tiree Ringing Rock
Tiree Ringing Rock submitted by markj99 : Site in Isle of Tiree Scotland The multiple cup markings are visible (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tiree Ringing Rock
Tiree Ringing Rock submitted by markj99 : Approaching the stone (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tiree Ringing Rock
Tiree Ringing Rock submitted by nosas : Photogrammetry view by James McComas June 17 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tiree Ringing Rock
Tiree Ringing Rock submitted by nosas

Tiree Ringing Rock
Tiree Ringing Rock submitted by nosas : Ringing Stone photogrammetry view by James McComas in Isle of Tiree Scotland

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 1.6km ENE 65° Dun Mor Vaul* Broch or Nuraghe (NM04234927)
 2.0km ENE 70° Dun Beag (Vaul)* Stone Fort or Dun (NM04634926)
 3.1km S 181° Loch A Chapuil* Stone Circle (NM024456)
 3.4km SSE 161° Beinn Ghott* Cairn (NM03594540)
 3.6km SE 144° Dun Ghott* Stone Fort or Dun (NM04584567)
 3.7km S 171° Loch A' Bhleoghan* Stone Circle (NM030450)
 4.3km S 177° Dun Ibrig* Stone Fort or Dun (NM02594440)
 4.7km SW 225° Kenovay Cup-Marked Rocks Rock Art (NL99064560)
 5.1km E 90° Caolas Standing Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NM07744835)
 5.4km SSE 163° Dun Heanish* Stone Fort or Dun (NM039434)
 5.8km E 97° Dun Mor A'Chaolais* Broch or Nuraghe (NM084476)
 7.6km WSW 238° Hough - NNE* Stone Circle (NL95894515)
 7.7km WSW 238° Hough Cairn* Cairn (NL95834505)
 7.8km WSW 238° Hough - SSW* Stone Circle (NL95814504)
 7.8km WSW 258° Dun Boraige Beag* Stone Fort or Dun (NL94944757)
 8.0km WSW 258° Dun Boraige Moire* Broch or Nuraghe (NL94684756)
 8.1km SW 217° Ceasabh Standing stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NL97314259)
 8.8km SSW 209° Cadruim* Rock Art (NL9782241299)
 9.7km WSW 240° Kilkenneth Cairn* Cairn (NL939445)
 9.8km SW 230° Middleton Standing Stone (Isle of Tiree)* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NL94694300)
 11.1km SW 216° Dunan Nighean* Stone Fort or Dun (NL95594014)
 11.4km SSW 203° Dun Na Cleite* Stone Fort or Dun (NL97403850)
 11.6km SSW 209° Dun Hiader* Stone Fort or Dun (NL964389)
 13.3km ENE 66° Traigh Chrossapol Standing Stone (Menhir) (NM1518853301)
 15.7km ENE 58° Totronald* Standing Stones (NM1666455985)
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"Tiree Ringing Rock" | Login/Create an Account | 8 News and Comments
  
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Re: Tiree Ringing Rock by Andy B on Friday, 07 September 2018
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markj99 wrote on Thursday, 06 September 2018:
I visited this site on 28th August 2018. I parked opposite the last house in Vaul and travelled NW to Dun Mor Vaul. After spending some quality time there I set off SW hugging the coast on foreshore and moorland. After about a mile I was able to pick out a large boulder on the shoreline. As I approached I was sure I had hit the jackpot. An erratic boulder of large dimensions was perched on top of alien rocks. There is an imaginative info board indicating that there are 53 cup marks used in ancient rituals. I took plenty of pictures and even managed to make a surprisingly resonant tone by striking the boulder with a large rock. Clach a' Choire made a great impression on me.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Tiree Ringing Rock by Andy B on Friday, 07 September 2018
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Anne T writes: Recorded as Canmore ID 21529 https://canmore.org.uk/site/21529/tiree-balephetrish we are told "This massive granite erratic, known locally as 'The Ringing Stone' because of the metallic ring it produces when struck, is situated on the N coast of Tiree 1.8km NE of Balephetrish. Measuring about 3.4m by 2.4m and 1.8m in height, it lies balanced on the rocks some 15 m inland from high-water mark. On its sides and upper surface it bears at least fifty-three circular or oval depressions, of which twenty are large and, in most cases, oval in shape, measuring up to 230mm by 150mm across and 60mm deep; the remainder are smaller and predominantly circular, averaging 70mm in diameter and 10mm in depth. There can be no doubt that these markings are artificial and, while several of them are unusually large, the presence among them of many small circular cups, indistinguishable from prehistoric cup-markings, suggest that the whole assemblage may be prehistoric in origin."

This stone also features on The Northern Antiquarian (TNA) - see their page for Clach a’ Choire, Vaul, Tiree: https://megalithix.wordpress.com/2010/08/15/clach-a-choire/ Along with a brief archaeology and history, TNA also give us some folklore, which says the boulder was "suggested to have been dragged and dropped here from the Isle of Rhum in an earlier Ice Age".
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Re: Tiree Ringing Rock by nosas on Tuesday, 13 June 2017
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3D Model of the ringing stone June 17



Ringing Stone, Tiree - Cup Marks
by jamesmcc
on Sketchfab


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    Re: Tiree Ringing Rock by john_d on Wednesday, 26 July 2017
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    Very nice 3D model. I've been experimenting with this sort of thing using some Open Source tools. What tools and processes did you use to create the model?
    [ Reply to This ]

Tiree Ringing Rock audio and video by Andy B on Tuesday, 25 February 2014
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Re: Tiree Ringing Rock by Anonymous on Friday, 24 February 2012
when i was young i remember being told about this . another myth i was told was if ever tiree were ever in trouble the rock would break open and our ancestors would come out and rescue the island
[ Reply to This ]

Tiree Archaeology Day, Thursday 30th September by Andy B on Monday, 30 August 2010
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Tiree Archaeology Day

Region:
Argyll and Bute
Sessions:
Thursday 30th September, 12.30pm - 5.30pm
Location:
Meet at Tiree Pierhead car park, PA77 6UH, GR 049455

(The ferry from Oban arrives at midday and leaves at 6pm) http://www.calmac.co.uk/Timetables-Fares/summer-timetable.html?id=summer-coll-a... Guided visits to the ancient Kirkapol Chapels, the remains of a broch at Vaul and the ‘Ringing Stone’, an erratic boulder with cup marks. The tour comprises walks and bus journeys between sites.
Contact info
Contact Name:
Gordon Scott
Contact Organisation:
Tiree Heritage Society
Contact Tel:
01879 22043
Contact Email:
gdwscott@googlemail.com
Contact Web1:
http://www.isleoftiree.com

Scottish Archaeology Month 2010
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Re: Tiree Ringing Rock by Andy B on Sunday, 04 November 2007
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Some photos of the Ringing Rock here:
http://www.tireeimages.com/collections41.html
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