Megalithic Portal: Latest from Channel Islands and Isle of Man

Le Dehus

JJ — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 10:23:48 GMT

]]>Carvings visible on the central pillar stone whilst the Beltane dawn sun enters the chamber For a few minutes a serpentine zigzag can be seen coming out of the ground. Chambered Tomb in Guernsey. The most interesting of the sites to explore I think, this one has four side chambers similar in the style, if not size to West Kennett Long Barrow. You have to almost lie down to see the unique carving of a stylised face - 'the Guardian of the tomb', thought to be prehistoric in origin, possibly a reused carved menhir on the roof of the tomb.

Sausmarez Manor Menhir

karolus — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 10:49:37 GMT

]]>A standing stone in the grounds of the golf course at Sausmarez Manor. The current Lord of the Manor moved the menhir to this location from a spot NW of here near the road junction. Its origin is unknown, but the Folklore of Guernsey (Marie De Garis) book mentions many menhirs in this neighbourhood. It stands about 6 feet tall, and bears some marks of attempted destruction. Two of it's sides are smoothed flat.

Little Sark Dolmen

ShamrockStone — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:52:36 GMT

]]>This dolmen is situated on the island of Sark, just off Guernsey, in the part called Little Sark (as the name suggests).

St Michael's Chapel (St Michael's Isle)

Anne T — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 10:57:45 GMT

]]>Twelfth-century limestone chapel with associated burial ground on St Michael's Isle (also called Fort Island), a 5.14-hectare rocky island off the southeast coast of the Isle of Man at the north end of Langness. The chapel site has evidence of funerary use extending back into the early medieval period, with "lintel" type cist graves discovered beneath and around the later structure, indicating an earlier keeill or chapel predating the surviving 12th-century building.

Maughold Cross-House

Anne T — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 21:10:12 GMT

]]>A purpose-built open-air shelter in the churchyard of Kirk Maughold housing 45 early medieval carved stones spanning the 6th to 13th centuries, one of the finest concentrations of Viking-age and early Christian sculpture on the Isle of Man. The collection includes simple inscribed crosses, rune-inscribed stones, large cross-slabs with abstract ornamentation, and pieces featuring figural scenes, and were drawn from various parish locations across the island.

Peel Hill round mounds

TheDruid-3X3 — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 17:05:08 GMT

]]>An excellent place for a walk, though the climb is steep. Home to interesting history and archaeology and the views are amazing. Archaeologist Rachel Crellin was born on the island and has researched these mounds. She has made a film for Culture Vanninn exploring this set of round mounds that can be easily visited.

Robert's Cross

Andy B — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 14:33:56 GMT

]]>The latest excavations by Chris Scarre and team on the island of Herm, near Guernesy have found the collapsed structure of the tomb, consisting of gigantic megalithic stones dated to ~4000 BCE. Excavations at nearby Bear’s Beach uncovered postholes from Neolithic houses, potentially dating back 6,500 years – predating the island’s tombs. Burial Chamber excavated as part of the University of Durham's "Island of the dead?" project - The buried Neolithic landscape of Herm.

Bear's Beach

TheDruid-3X3 — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 09:58:02 GMT

]]>Excavations near Bear’s Beach uncovered postholes from Neolithic houses, potentially dating back 6,500 years – predating the island’s tombs.

Tynwald Hill

TheDruid-3X3 — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 07:06:18 GMT

]]>Causewayed Enclosure, site of The Manx Parliament, with standing stone, in Isle of Man

La Cotte de St Brelade

davidmorgan — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 09:46:15 GMT

]]>Excavations are getting underway again at this key Palaeolithic site on Jersey. Here's a vintage photo of the site from Joseph Sinel's Prehistoric Times. Back to this week, Matt and the team were visited by ITV News, watch in the comments section of our page. A Paleolithic site of early habitation in St Brelade, Jersey. Cotte means "cave" in Jèrriais. Neanderthal man once lived here around 250,000 years ago - the earliest record of the occupation of the Channel Islands by a human ancestor. The deposits found here contain hundreds and thousands of Neanderthal stone tools, together with their animal prey which included herd animals like horse, mammoth, and reindeer.

Le Quesnel Menhir

Andy B — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 16:33:34 GMT

]]>Standing over 4m tall on the La Moye headland, this standing stone was destroyed in the 19th century. It was most likely victim to quarrying, broken up with the stones that were left of its enclosure soon after 1870. There was an awareness at the time it would soon be destroyed, the illustration is by a Lieutenant S.P Oliver who described the situation in a 1870 report.

La Hougue Bie

enkidu41 — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 13:17:25 GMT

]]>Matt Pope says: Happy Equinox from La Hougue Bie! Thanks to the Soc Jersiaise and Jersey Heritage, so good to join them and watch the sunrise light up the interior of this huge Neolithic burial chamber. A special 6,000 year experience to mark the end of Winter.. On top of this colossal man-made circular mound, 54.9m in diameter and 12.2m high, is a pair of conjoined mediaeval chapels which , until 1924, were in turn crowned by a pseudo-Gothic house, La Tour d'Auvergne. It contains a single cruciform passage grave, the main chamber of which lies immediately below the summit.

Le Mont Ubé

enkidu41 — Sun, 07 Jul 2024 15:05:34 GMT

]]>This passage grave was discovered in 1848 too late to save the capstones from quarrymen. The chamber and passage were originally covered by a mound and probably surrounded by a peristalith of upright stones.

Les Huguettes

karolus — Tue, 07 May 2024 12:26:18 GMT

]]>Excavation set getting underway at Iron Age and Roman site next month, more on our page. Ancient Settlement on Alderney. A Bronze Age and Iron Age site, originally excavated in the 1970s, many pots, stone tools, bronze artifacts, and a hearth have been identified. Longis Common has many discoveries, including a hoard and skeletons, but is deep with blown sand.

Les Adams Cist

karolus — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 12:25:29 GMT

]]>The possible remains of F.C. Lukis' "lost" Guernsey cist, that he excavated in the mid 1800s. He reported some finds, but the exact location has been lost for over 100 years. If this is indeed the same site, it consists of a huge single capstone lying on a hill, with many orthostats lying nearby in the walls, of the favoured high quartz content granite by the builders.