<< Our Photo Pages >> Callanish 11 - Standing Stone (Menhir) in Scotland in Isle of Lewis
Submitted by Gerald_Ponting on Friday, 07 February 2020 Page Views: 12621
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Callanish 11 Alternative Name: Airigh na Beinne Bige, Callanish XICountry: Scotland County: Isle of Lewis Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Nearest Town: Stornoway Nearest Village: Breasclete
Map Ref: NB22233569 Landranger Map Number: 8
Latitude: 58.222084N Longitude: 6.732531W
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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Standing Stone in Lewis on a peat-covered terrace about fifty metres across. There is a fine view across the whole Callanish area from this spot.
Gerald Ponting writes: The single standing stone has long been known to the people of Breasclete. Surprisingly, it had never been recorded in any archaeological literature. All the information known about this site was gathered by Margaret Pontinq, Ron Curtis and myself.
Local tradition records that this site has been used, perhaps for generations as a source of suitable slabs for use as door lintels for black houses. A piece of metal embedded in a crack in the erect stone tends to confirm this - the result of an unsuccessful attempt to split the remaining stone. The stones were sometimes taken to the village on sledges in winter. There is even a tale of regular hauntings at one house due to the of fending "Druidical" lintel; which continued till the occupier emigrated!
Initially, we thought that the site was the remains of a large circle. Having found about twenty possible features it was clear that the site was not a circle.
Latterly, Margaret and I suggested that it could be a southward facing "observatory" site (to match the predominantly north facing observatory of site V?).
The features near the cliff represent observing positions and the features at the lower edge of the terrace act as markers for horizon positions.
Remarkably, all the other sites in the "Callanish Complex" are visible from this site, with the exception of site VIII - and this was "marked" by site XV, which would have been visible when erect. XI. XV and VIII are in a straight line.
Access: In Breasclete village take the Pentland road towards the moors. Immediately beyond the first cattle grid, leave the road and climb steeply up the hill on the left for about five minutes.
Text reused with permission from "The Stones around Callanish" by Gerald Ponting and Margaret Ponting (now Margaret Curtis).
Gerald Ponting's web site
Canmore site no. 4151.
Note: Geophysical survey finds evidence of a stone circle at this standing stone site in the Calanias complex, and possibly an ancient lightning strike at the site - more in the comments on our page
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