<< Our Photo Pages >> Heaven Stone - Standing Stone (Menhir) in Scotland in Isle of Skye

Submitted by markj99 on Friday, 12 November 2021  Page Views: 2224

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Heaven Stone Alternative Name: Priest's Stone, Trial Stone, Trying Stone, Clach Deuchainn
Country: Scotland County: Isle of Skye Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Nearest Town: Dunvegan  Nearest Village: Hallin
Map Ref: NG22486122
Latitude: 57.555592N  Longitude: 6.641397W
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
 3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 4 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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Heaven Stone
Heaven Stone submitted by markj99 : The Heaven Stone with Trumpan Church as a backdrop. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Heaven Stone is a prehistoric stone in the graveyard of Trumpan Church on the edge of Waternish Peninsula on the the Isle of Skye. The rough stone is around 1.4m (4 ft 8 inches) high with a hole 4cm (1.5 inches) in diameter on the W face c. 20cm (8 inches) from the top of the stone. The stone has many names relating to the tradition in which it plays a central part. Heaven Stone, Trial Stone and Priest’s Stone come from the story that a person accused of lying would be led up to the stone and blindfolded. They would then attempt to insert a finger directly into the hole. If they succeeded they were telling the truth and Heaven awaited them. If however they failed they were lying and a warmer fate was their destiny.

A more recent tradition seems to be people inserting small coins in the cracks which have appeared in the top half of the stone. Maybe they are an offering to ease their passage to heaven. Ironically the consequence of this tribute could be to destroy the Heaven Stone by widening the cracks until it breaks.


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Heaven Stone
Heaven Stone submitted by Antonine : 2008 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Heaven Stone
Heaven Stone submitted by Antonine (Vote or comment on this photo)

Heaven Stone
Heaven Stone submitted by markj99 : The hole in the Heaven stone, a small target to aim for. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Heaven Stone
Heaven Stone submitted by markj99 : Pennies for Heaven: coins inserted into a crack in the Heaven Stone. Too many appeals to Heaven may lead to its destruction. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Heaven Stone
Heaven Stone submitted by markj99 : There are significant cracks in the top half of the Heaven Stone.

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
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"Heaven Stone" | Login/Create an Account | 2 News and Comments
  
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Re: Heaven Stone by markj99 on Saturday, 31 October 2020
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Since my last comment i have had an update on Ecclesiological notes on some of the islands of Scotland" (1885) by TS Muir. Rhiannon has kindly found it on Archive.org, possibly a useful resource for other obscure books. Click on the title to view pages 270-1. There is a half page drawing of the Heaven Stone on page 271.
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Re: Heaven Stone by markj99 on Thursday, 29 October 2020
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I don’t own a copy of Ecclesiological notes on some of the islands of Scotland (1885) by TS Muir. I would hazard a guess that not many people do. However, the book is used as a reference in Canmore for Trumpan Church in Skye.
Therefore I would like to acknowledge Malcolm H Jones for a quote from pages 270-1 posted on MyCanmore Text in Canmore ID 10939. Canmore does not mention the Heaven Stone in its account however Muir has an account of the stone and its tradition.
Muir describes it as "a rude undressed pillar called 'The Trying Stone,' to which, according to local tradition, accused persons were taken, and there, through a venturesome appeal to the object, made manifest their innocence or their guilt. It is a massy whin, 4 ft. 8 in. in height, with a downwardly-bent cavity of an inch and a half in diameter near to its top. As the story goes, the appellant was placed within a certain distance of the stone, and then, approaching it blindfold, established his innocence only by unerringly putting his finger into the cavity."
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