Via, Stones Of Via

HY21NE 3 2600 1602.

(HY 2600 1602) Stones of Via {NR}

Enclosure {NR}

OS 6" map, Orkney, 2nd ed., (1903).

This chambered tomb , which may have been of Maes-Howe type, now consists of ' ... seven large blocks of stone, which have obviously formed the chamber of a cairn or mound, now destroyed. According to a description of 1839- 41, they are "placed nearly in the centre of an old circular enclosure, 275 paces in circumference" (NSA 1845). The latter, which can still be traced, though only by surface changes in the ground, ... measures 61 ft by 52 ft, ... the inner end of a passage to the chamber can no longer be made out.

Four of the stones, two still standing and two prostrate, have served as supports "three feet in height" (F W L Thomas 1852) for a massive covering-slab or capstone, measuring 5 1/2 ft by 4 1/2 ft by 15 ins, which now lies against them in a tilted position, one side resting on the ground. Just beyond the fallen side of the capstone lie what are apparently the broken halves of a single stone which has been about 3 1/2 ft long, by nearly 3 ft wide and 13 to 14 ins thick. A number of smaller stones can be seen within or around the larger (RCAHMS 1946)'. The site is obviously greatly ruined, and it is probable that even fewer of the stones are in situ than has been supposed: indeed, none of them may be in situ. (A S Henshall 1963)

New Statistical Account (NSA) 1845; F W L Thomas 1852; RCAHMS 1946; A S Henshall 1963.

The doubtful remains of a chambered cairn situated on a plateau at about 100 ft OD. The 'old circular enclosure' (New Statistical Account [NSA] 1845) has been ploughed under: its SW extremity is just traceable by a cultivation terrace.

The 'Stones of Via' are as described and planned by Henshall, but seem to bear little resemblance to the remains of a chamber.

Resurveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (NKB) 18 May 1966.

NSA 1845.

Chambered cairn of uncertain type.

J L Davidson and A S Henshall 1989

'The site appears to have been surrounded by a ditch and bank which are now largely ploughed out. The cist is located in the south east quadrant at the foot of the bank on the outer edge of the ditch....... From the remaining slabs it would appear that the cist could have measured about 0.7m by 1.5m.'

Letter: J B Henry, Broadlie Road, Neilston, Glasgow, October 1991.

Scheduled as 'Stones of Via, enclosure and stone setting, Loch of Clumly... the remains of a prehistoric stone setting, lying just off-centre within a very extensive but now much flattened oval embankment. The stone setting, which comprises a massive stone slab and a group of six large blocks set in the ground, forms the most visible element of the monument.'

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 10 February 2003.