Standing Stone

Machrie Moor on the Isle of Arran, Scotland, has 6 Stone Circles and these 3 Standing stones ranging in height from 3.7m to 4.9m are the most striking of them all. The three tall slender stones were originally part of a seven or eight 13.7m stone circle dating back to approx 2,300BC to 600BC. One of the circles fallen stones now lie in two pieces, fashioned into millstones which for some reason, never made it to their 18th-century mill.

The six stone circles are situated below a prominent notch on the skyline to the northeast where Machrie Glen divides into two steep-sided valleys. At the summer solstice the notch is intersected by the sun at sunrise, and this may explain why the circles were sited in this location. If you are ever on the Island there is a comfortable 2.75mile out-and-back walk from a C/park to visit the standing stones which are set amongst the bleak moorland landscape.