Hill o' Many Stanes
About two hundred small standing stones set in more than twenty rows down a low hillside near Lybster, raised some 4,000 years ago, a rare sight in Europe.
On a low hill of heather above the Caithness coast, a few miles north of Lybster, small grey stones stand in lines running down the slope.
There are about two hundred of them, in more than twenty rows.
The Hill o' Many Stanes was laid out about four thousand years ago, and no one knows quite why. The rows may have marked a place for gatherings and ceremonies. What is certain is that it is rare: sites like this, with so many stones set out in rows, are found in only a few places in Europe.
A gate by the road leads onto the hillside, where a board shows how the stones might once have looked. Walk down between the rows and look back up the hill, and the pattern comes clear. Nearby, the Grey Cairns of Camster are older still.
Open hillside, there at any time, in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.
A board at the gate explains the rows.
- Where
- Off the A99 near Lybster, KW3 6BA.
- Stones
- About 200, in 22 rows.
- Age
- About 4,000 years.
Signed off the A99 a few miles north-east of Lybster, KW3 6BA.
Scotland, in print.
Every photograph commissioned, every word written by somebody who went. Printed twice a year, made in Scotland.
For further reading, before you go.