Scotland is scattered with standing stones and stone circles. From towering monoliths on a windswept moor on Arran to a perfectly aligned stone circle in Orkney, whether Scotland’s stone circle were built for rituals, burials, or to track the movements of the sun and moon, here are the 5 best places to see stone circles & standing stones in Scotland:
- Orkney – to visit The Ring of Brodgar, The Stones of Stenness and the Watchstone.
- The Outer Hebrides – to visit the Callanish Standing Stones on the Isle of Lewis.
- Invernesshire – to visit the Clava Cairns and other stone circles near Inverness.
- The Isle of Arran – to visit the Machrie Moor Standing Stones.
- Kilmartin Glen, Argyll – with over 800 prehistoric and ancient sites to visit.
Read on to find out how to visit these standing stones and stone circles in Scotland!
1. Orkney
Step amongst Orkney’s standing stones and you will truly feel like a dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants.
On a long promontory or ‘ness’ between two lochs, surrounded by a huge bowl of low hills, sits the Heart of Neolithic Orkney, an incredibly well preserved stone-age community and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Visiting the Heart of Neolithic Orkney tells a truly vivid story of life on these islands 3000 years ago.
Here is how to visit Orkney’s stone circles and standing stones.
The Ring of Brodgar Stone Circle and Henge
A massive Neolithic stone circle, The Ring of Brodgar on the Mainland is part of Orkney’s UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ring originally consisted of up to 70 stones, though only 27 remain standing today. The stones vary in height from 2.1 metres (7ft) to 4.7 metres (15ft 3in).
Ask yourself, how did the builders of the Ring of Brodgar measure a true circle 2500 years before Archimedes? How were giant stone slabs up to six meters high dragged from at least seven different quarries up to 10 miles away? How was a ditch 103.6m (340ft) in length, ten meters wide and four meters deep dug by without the use of metal tools?
The Watchstone
The Watchstone stands at 5.6 metres high, 1.5 metres wide and 0.46m thick, and guards the entrance to the Ring of Brodgar complex, with the stump of another stone found nearby, making the stone a pair.
The Stones of Stenness
Thought to be one of the earliest stone circles in Scotland, the Stones of Stenness date back to around 3000-2900BC. Originally a circle of 12 massive stones, only four remain today, standing up to six meters high. In the centre of the henge is a large hearth.
The Comet Stone
Located to the east of the Ring of Brodgar is The Comet Stone, through to be part of a trio of standing stones which formed the entrance to the complex. The stone stands at 1.75-metres (5ft 9in) high.
> Visit The Ring of Brodgar Stone Circle and Henge
> Find out more about the Ness of Brodgar archaeological digs.
> How to visit Orkney
2. The Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides are a 130-mile long island chain 24 miles off the northwest coast of Scotland, and home to the Callanish Standing Stones, one of the most famous stone circles in Scotland.
Callanish Standing Stones (Isle of Lewis)
The Callanish Standing Stones, located on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, are among the most famous prehistoric sites in the UK. Erected around 5,000 years ago, the Callanish stones are older than England’s Stonehenge.
The Callanish I site consists of a stone circle with a chambered cairn at the centre, connected to avenues of standing stones that form a cross-like pattern. Nearby, are further smaller stone circles—Callanish II and Callanish III – as well as Callanish IV – a less-visited but still impressive group of stones. The Cleitir Stones sit on the Isle of Bernera and are a series of stones set in a semi-circle atop a 40ft cliff next to the bridge to the Isle of Lewis.
Legends suggest that the stones were once giants who were turned to stone for refusing to convert to Christianity or the remains of men who had transgressed and were punished by being turned into stone. The best time to visit is at sunrise or sunset when the stones cast long shadows…
There is a visitor centre at the Callanish Standing Stones.
More standing stones in Scotland in the Outer Hebrides
Pobull Fhinn, North Uist – A large, oval stone circle situated on a hillside. There are about 24 standing stones and boulders surviving at Pobull Fhinn.
Fir Bhreige (The False Men) North Uist – Three standing stones on the slopes of Blashaval. Were the stones the graves of three spies who were buried alive or were they three men from Skye who were turned to stone by a witch because they deserted their wives?
MacLeod’s Stone, Harris – sitting above Traigh Iar beach on the Isle of Harris, near the village of Horgabost.
3. Inverness
The city of Inverness is surrounded by around 50 Clava Cairns – bronze age burial sites – often surrounded by standing stones.
Bulnuaran of Clava – the Clava Cairns
The Clava Cairns are located near Inverness is a Bronze Age burial site dating back over 4,000 years. The complex consists of three well-preserved cairns, each surrounded by a ring of standing stones,
Two parts of the complex, Balnuaran of Clava and Milton of Clava, are open to the public.
The site is believed to have been used for funerary rituals and possibly astronomical observations, as the cairns align with the setting sun during the winter solstice.
There are three cairns at the Bulnuaran of Clava, and each cairn has a distinct structure. The two outer cairns are passage graves, featuring narrow entrances that once led to burial chambers, while the central cairn is a ring cairn, lacking an entrance and possibly used for ceremonial purposes. The surrounding standing stones have cup-mark carvings.
Clava Cairns is often associated with Outlander, as the site is said to have inspired the fictional Craigh na Dun, where Claire Randall time-travels.
> Visit Clava Cairns
More standing stones and stone circles near Inverness
Corrimony – a chambered cairn surrounded by 11 standing stones Glenurquhart near Drumnadrochit built 4000 years ago.
Gask cairn and Farr stone circle – a ring cairn with a stone circle aligned to face the mid-winter sun at the solstice.
Aldourie standing stones in Scotland – located on the south side of Loch Ness, the Aldourie standing stones are just before you get to Dores.
4. The Isle of Arran
The Isle of Arran is renowned for its ancient standing stones and stone circles with the most famous being Machrie Moor, with its six stone circles near Blackwaterfoot.
Machrie Moor Standing Stones in Scotland
Dating back to the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, the Machrie Moor Standing Stones date between to between 3500 and 1500 BC and are set over the site of previous wood circles.
The stone circles are set beneath a notch in Machrie Glen where it is divided into two steep-sided valleys, which, during the summer solstice is intersected by the sun.
The Machrie Moor Standing Stones are made up of:
- Machrie Moor 1 – six granite boulders and five sandstone slabs, arranged alternately.
- Machrie Moor 2 – a 13.7m circle originally made up of 8 stones, with 3 still standing ranging from 3.7 metres to 4.9 metres.
- Machrie Moor 3 – which originally had 9 standing stones with one 4.3 metres high stone still standing.
- Machrie Moor 4 – four granite blocks, about 0.9 metres high.
- Machrie Moor 5 – otherwise known as Fingal’s Cauldron Seat is two rings of granite boulders.
- Machrie Moor 11 – a 13m stone circle with 10 stones about 1.2m high.
Another stone circle site is the Auchagallon Stone Circle, a ring of fifteen red sandstone and granite stones surrounding a central cairn.
5. Kilmartin Glen (Argyll)
Kilmartin Gilen is a prehistoric landscape with multiple stone circles, cairns, and rock carvings and one of the most significant concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in Britain and the most important in Scotland.
With over 800 ancient sites to visit including standing stones, chambered cairns and cup and ring marked rocks, history buffs and Outlander fans will love to explore with this walk around Kilmartin Glen.
The most famous of the standing stones in Kilmartin Glen are:
Ballymeanoch – two rows of standing stones, a stone circle, and a henge with a small burial cairn dating back over 4000 years
Nether Largie Standing Stones, group of five tall stones, the largest stone is nearly 3m with cup, ring and spiral marks carved into the stone.
The Temple Wood Stone Circles are two stone circles, once possibly surrounded by timber structures, which once had 22 standing stones.
> Visit the Kilmartin Museum to find out more about the area.
Do you have a favourite of all the standing stones in Scotland?
Love from Scotland x