Region : Orkney Home
Island : Mainland Map
Town or village : Stenness List
Grid Reference : HY 312 121 Glossary
Period : Prehistory Bibliography
Barnhouse Stone
(Barn Stone)

STANDING STONE
Barnhouse Stone image

 
This beautiful standing stone is 3.2m high and only 18cm thick. Its breadth varies from 1.1m at the base to 1.8m when almost two thirds above the ground.
This stone is likely to have some connection with the site of the Stones of Stenness, some 700m north-west. And maybe also with Maes Howe, a chambered tomb 700m north-east: Barnhouse Stone is perfectly aligned to the entrance of the tomb. During the midwinter solstice, when the rays of the sun shine down Maes Howe's passage and into the chamber, they shine exactly over the top of the monolith.