Berneray, Borve, Cladh Maolrithe

Standing Stone, Cladh Maolrithe, Berneray.

Near the summit of the rising ground to the north-east of Loch Borve on the south shore of the island of Berneray, at an elevation of rather more than 100 feet above sea-level, is a squarish oval enclosure hollow in the centre, measuring about 45 yards in length and breadth and surrounded by the remains of an earthen wall spread over a considerable width. Towards the north-east of the enclosure, which is a disused burying ground, is a fine standing stone of regular width, measuring 8 feet 6 inches in height, 3 feet 8 inches in breadth, and 11 inches in thickness at most, facing the south and inclining slightly in that direction.

RCAHMS 1928, visited 13 August 1914.

OS map: Harris xxvi.

This stone stands on the crest of a hill, but is set towards the back of a large, slightly hollowed, oval enclosure (centred NF 91223 80683), traditionally thought to define the perimeter of a burial ground (see NF98SW 8). If this tradition is correct, the footings of a small rectangular building extending due W from the base of the stone are possibly those of a chapel associated with the burial ground. The stone itself measures 1.05m in breadth by a maximum of 0.25m in thickness and rises 2.6m to a point formed where the sloping top meets the straight SE side in an acute angle. The date of the stone is uncertain, apparently standing in the interior of a burial ground which has been dug into the slope and mainly lies beneath the surrounding ground level. In this respect it resembles a grassed over quarry and as such raises the possibility that the bank of the enclosure and the standing stone are elements of an earlier structure, possibly even a large heavily robbed hilltop burial cairn.

Visited by RCAHMS (SPH) 18 September 2010