Around the Ness of Brodgar.

Start. Ring of Brodgar car park.

Route. Ring of Brodgar car park - Ring of Brodgar - Salt Knowe - Ness of Brodgar - B9055 - Brodgar - Watchstone - Stones of Stenness - Barnhowe Neolithic Village - B9055 - Watchstone - Brodgar - Ring of Brodgar car park.

Notes. This is a walk between the Lochs of Stenness and Harray straight through the heart of prehistoric Orkney, a walk amongst the enigmatic stones of one of the most spectacular prehistoric monuments in the British Isles. The Ring of Brodgar was a massive ceremonial site dating back to the third millennia BC, originally 60 stones stood within a stone cut ditch, sadly only 36 survive, the site also comprises 13 prehistoric burial mounds.

The walk also visits the Stones of Stenness, possibly the oldest henge monument in the British Isles, only four of the original twelve stones remain, the ditch that once surrounded the monoliths has long since been leveled through hundreds of years of ploughing. Just a hundred yards to the north of this site stands a Stone Age village, Barnhouse is similar to Skara Brae but has much less structure surviving, which means it hardly gets any visitors. Now we get to a problem, the Ring of Brodgar is one of the most popular tourist attractions on the island, if you visit get there before the tourist buses arrive, you won’t be alone but at least you won’t be elbow to elbow with other visitors.

The walk started at the Ring of Brodgar car park, a boardwalk path guided us to the road across which was the stone circle, after wandering round we left via a path that passes Salt Knowe. An earth mound with no apparent purpose, once thought to be a burial mound but found to have no internal structure. The path then guided us along a fence line to the shore of Loch Stenness, we then proceeded to follow the shore line as far as Brodgar, here we crossed the road to join a path that ushered us passed Brodgar Farm and a large standing stone christened the Watchstone, the remaining one of two marking the entrance to the Stones of Stenness.

You can get close to these stones, feel the power if that’s your thing, do a dance, we did neither. In the corner of the field a gate allowed access to a track which in turn guided us to Barnhouse Neolithic Village, it may not be as vast as Skara Brae but at least we had it to ourselves.

Once we'd had our fill of prehistoric architecture we headed back along the track to join the road and the path that guided us back, via more standing stones of course.

view route map.

home.

Welcome to the Ring of Brodgar, before the tourist buses arrive.

Wandering round the enigmatic Ring of Brodgar, worsening weather makes the site even more mysterious.

Viewing Loch of Harray from the standing stones.

Standing tall in the heart of prehistoric Orkney.

Seen over the Loch of Stenness the hills of Hoy.

Question? where did the stones come from, answer from all over Orkney. There is a site near Vestrafiold in Sandwick where you can still see quarried standing stones propped up on supports.

Something you don't see every day, I've been told they're quite rare, an Orkney Vole.

Viewing the stone circle from the Ness of Brodgar

Step back in time, this is possibly the oldest henge monument in the British Isles, the Stones of Stenness

Stenness which is pronounced stane is  Orcadian dialect, it comes from Old Norse meaning stone headland. 

Barnhouse Neolithic Village....

....is not as vast a Skara Brae but we have it to ourselves.

The Ring of Brodgar as seen from Barnhouse.

Loch of Harray, the bad weather that's been on the northern skyline all day has finally blown in.

Gray, Loch of Harray.

The Comet Stone stands 5ft 9in tall on an oval mound north-east of a Bronze Age Barrow Cemetery.

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