Isle of Skye - Isle of Lewis - Steinacleit
Stones - Clach an Truiseil Standing Stone - Arnol Blackhouse - Dun Carloway
Brough - Calanais Stone Circle - Clava Cairns - Laidhay Croft Museum - Achavanich
Stone Setting
Day
Five
A leisurely day will be spent on the Isle
of Skye including a beautiful walk following the shore of Portree Bay which
will include a picnic lunch.
In the evening, a workshop will be held to
discuss and plan our ritual at the Calanais Stone Circle on the Isle of Lewis.
Day
Six
In the morning, we will take the ferry from
the Isle of Skye to the Isle of Harris followed by a beautiful scenic drive to
the main town of the Isle of Lewis, Stornoway.
After lunch we will visit the Steinacleit Stones and the Clach an
Truiseil Standing Stone. The Steinacleit
stones include a large Neolithic or early Bronze Age stone setting possibly
once a chambered cairn or a large building with a later large oval building
constructed on it. Believed to be the
tallest standing stone in Scotland, the Clach an Truiseil is visible from the
Steinacleit Stones and we will then take a short drive to visit this site. There are also two fallen stones lying
adjacent to the Clach an Truiseil Stone which may be the remains of a
substantial Neolithic stone circle similar in size to Calanais.
Day
Seven
We will begin our day with a visit to the
Arnol Blackhouse, a restored traditional Hebridean style farmhouse. Once the residence of a crafting family and
their animals, it is preserved almost as the family left it. Thick windowless stone-faced walls support a
thatched roof weighed down with nets and stones. A peat fire burns in the open hearth with the
smoke filtering out through the roof.
The Hebrideans lived in such homes for many centuries the last being
vacated in the early 1970s and the Arnol Blackhouse is a fine example of the
very tough life they once lived.
We then drive to the Iron Age Broch of Dun Carloway, the best preserved broch in the Outer Hebrides
with beautiful views to the seaways below.
Brochs are hollow-walled circular structures of a type found only in
Scotland. Archaeologists’ views differ
as to whether brochs were built originally as fortified towers or defensible
family homes. Dun Carloway is entered by
a single, low and easily defendable doorway and has three chambers at ground
level with a stone staircase that rises between the inner and outer walls
giving access to the upper levels.
From Dun Carloway we drive to the Calanais
Standing Stones and, for many, the most exquisite setting of standing stones
anywhere. A sacred site for nearly 4,000
years, the stones were erected in 3000BC and the site abandoned in 800AD. The stones are located high on a hill with
glorious views to the lochs below and at the heart of one of the largest
prehistoric ritual landscapes in Britain.
It comprises a circle of 13 stones with a central 5m high monolith and a
small chambered tomb within the circle.
A series of single stone rows radiate to the south, east and west with a
double row of stones forming an avenue leading from the north. The monument is built of local gneiss stone
and it seems that each stone was selected for its individual character and
beauty. We will also visit one of the
nearby smaller stone circles with a view to Calanais. A visit to Scotland would not be complete
without experiencing this most beautiful and wondrous sacred place.
In the early evening, we will return to
Calanais for a guided meditation/ritual at the stones at sunset.
Day
Eight
After leaving the Isle of Lewis, we visit
the three Balnuran of Clava passage tombs.
The circular tombs are Bronze Age and form part of a group of 45
distinctive cairns in this part of Scotland.
There are two types of cairns and both are represented here. One of the cairns has both cup and ring marks
carved into the stone. The tombs are
located in the most beautiful woodland setting and each has a stone circle
surrounding it.
We also visit the Laidhay Croft Museum, a
white thatched longhouse. This style of
house was once very common in this part of Scotland. Everything a farming family might need could
be provided under one roof including a home for the animals.
Our last stop of the day before taking the ferry to Orkney, is a visit to the 4,000 year old Achavanich Stone
Setting. It is not a stone circle but
rather is in the shape of a horseshoe.
Thirty-five stones still stand with six fallen and, unlike most stone
circles in Britain, the broadside of the stones face outwards. Close by are the remains of a passage tomb
1,000 years older than the stones.
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