<< Our Photo Pages >> Knowe of Lairo - Chambered Cairn in Scotland in Orkney
Submitted by DrewParsons on Sunday, 17 October 2010 Page Views: 9103
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Knowe of LairoCountry: Scotland County: Orkney Type: Chambered Cairn
Nearest Town: Rousay Island Nearest Village: Hullion
Map Ref: HY39922796
Latitude: 59.134186N Longitude: 3.051565W
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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coin whese001 would like to visit
drolaf visited on 9th Jun 2022 - their rating: Cond: 3 due to excessive number of visitors since it was on TV the farmer has blocked access, with concern for people's safety and the cairn's protection.
h_fenton visited on 2nd Sep 2019 A bit of a squeeze getting past the collapse in the entrance passage, this shouldn't collapse further since it has been propped up with stones which make the passage narrower at this point than it was originally. Biggest dangers inside are side chambers, partially collapsed and broken lintels that are unsupported. Fantastic site, could do with a few metal bars to help stabilize the stonework in places so that it is safer for those who dare enter inside. Fairly new looking fence has been put up around the long mound. Would be great so see some further archaeological examination of this site (if health & safety ever allows).
DrewParsons have visited here
The Knowe of Lairo is a wonderful site located on a rise above the hamlet of Hullion on Rousay Island. It was incompletely excavated in 1936 as other features were discovered during the excavation and time constraints then the Second World War intervened in the work. The excavation resulted in the discovery of a chamber possessing unique features at the eastern end of the long mound with indications of a northern horn and southern horn and associated court to the site. One enters the passage into the chamber by wriggling along on one's belly, passing under a low beam of stone and into the chamber which rises gradually to a massive 4 metres in height and is spanned by seven massive lintels which give lateral support below the top of the corbelling.
The original excavation was deemed unsafe to be tackled through this entrance passage as the partial collapse of the inner walls had made it too dangerous a prospect and so it was excavated via the roof. The chamber had been built with three compartments, although structural work required its builders to block off the third with a supporting wall and nowadays one can look through but a small opening into this area. In the first compartment a celt (stone axe) and pottery sherds were found. Compartment two was similar to one and had ambry (alcoves) in the walls. Compartment three was in too dangerous a condition for full exploration and the 1936 excavators opined that it might contain an as yet undiscovered burial. Outside, the passage opened onto a semicircular forecourt through a double walled facade traces of which can still be seen on the northern side of the entrance. An estimate of the size of the forecourt was a diameter of 21 metres based on what remained at the time of the excavation in 1936.
When I visited the site in September 2010 it was off the beaten track and unsignposted although it is marked conspicuously on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 map given its considerable length at 40 metres. I wriggled into the entrance passage with my torch and was amazed at the size of the chamber once inside. As I looked around and took photos I thought I heard someone walking above me, the noise became louder and was now more of a rustling sound and I realised that some other creature was in the tomb with me in one of the holes through to the inner compartment that had not been excavated. Shining my torch in I noticed some small bones which I took to be animal or bird bones but no sign of the other occupant who continued to rummage around out of site. I wriggled out leaving it to its ancient home and walked down to the nearby hamlet of Hullion - the best site I have visited for many a year!
Reference: The Knowe of Lairo, Rousay, Orkney, Walter G Grant and D Wilson. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquarians of Scotland, January 1943.
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