Monument record 197 - BEINN BHEAG, LEWIS

NB23NW 3 2223 3569.

Mrs Margaret Ponting, Olcote, New Park, Callanish has a stone axe she found in 1976 at NB 2223 3569. It was found within a few yards of what may be a fallen standing stone. Dr Close-Brooks has a drawing of the axe.
Information contained in letter from J Close-Brooks (NMAS) to OS, 5 October 1976.

'A standing stone and broken, displaced or buried portions of seven more, plus sockets for at least three further stones, either removed or never emplaced, together with the remains of two burial cairns and a group of later shieling huts.'
Information from Historic Scotland, January 1993.

NB 222 356 The larger cairn is 11.5m long by 9.3m broad, and stands 2.25m above the lowest surrounding ground to the SE. Eleven kerb stones can be traced around the perimeter, the largest appearing to be 0.75m long, but much of the perimeter is buried by tumble and grass. Within the area it is disturbed and there is hummocky grass and many exposed stones, the largest being 0.95m long. There is a hint of a chamber given by another flat slab near the centre and two voids which could be rabbit holes.
Attached to the W side there is an arc, outside the kerb, formed by six more kerb stones extending for about 1m by 2m.
The cairn has been robbed to build a semi-modern stone shelter on top. The walling, about 0.4m to 0.6m thick, with two or three courses faced both to the inside and outside, has an outside diameter of about 2.4m and appears to be D-shaped internally.
It is located on undulating ground on a natural 'shelf' on the S shoulder of the hill, 39m E of the standing stone known as Callanish Site II.
The smaller cairn is 6.9m long and 5.1m broad, and stands about 1.5m high above the lowest ground. Six kerb stones appear to be in place, one being 0.85m long and another being 0.8m high. Internally it is disturbed and there are many stones and uneven grass.
It has been robbed to build a now-ruined 'sunken' shelter or shieling, 4.5m by 2.25m internally, lying 9.5m to the SE.
The cairn is 19m S of the larger cairn and 43m from the standing stone II.
M R Curtis and G R Curtis 1995.

'The monument known as Beinn Bheag, standing stone, cairns and shielings 500m SSE of comprises a standing stone and broken, displaced or buried portions of 7 more, plus sockets for at least 3 further stones, either removed or never emplaced, together with the remains of 2 burial cairns and a group of later shieling huts. The area to be scheduled is a rectangle, 110m E-W by 95m N-S.'
HS Scheduling Document 9 December 1992.

NB 222 356 Survey work has established that the single standing stone, stone stumps, prostrate stones, other broken stones and packing stones at this site (DES 1976, 58) should be regarded as the remains of a stone circle. They mark the positions where eight standing stones once stood in a circle of about 51m diameter. The circle may have consisted of at least 13 standing stones. These eight postions are not continuous but extend along 7% and 39% of the perimeter.
Local knowledge records that in the 19th century this stone circle was used as a source of lintels for the houses shown on the 1853 1st edition OS map, at NB 2158 3508. There is still a metal wedge embedded in a crack in the remaining standing stone.
Curtis and Curtis 2002, 123-4

M, G and G R Ponting, Ponting , 1976, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 58, Callanish XI: Airigh Na Beinn Bige (Bibliographic reference). SWE13424.

M, G and G R Ponting, Ponting , 1977, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 32, Callanish XI: airigh na Beinne Bige (Bibliographic reference). SWE13308.

University of Glasgow, Departm, 1978, Callanish: a map of the standing stones and circles at Callanish, Isle of Lewis (Bibliographic reference). SWE13317.

G and M Ponting and Ponting, 1984a, The Stones around Callanish: a guide to the minor megalithic sites of the Callanish area, 32-4 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5376.

M R and G R Curtis and Curtis, 1995f, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 110 (Bibliographic reference). SWE38875.

Council for Scottish Archaeology, 2002, Discovery and Excavation in Scotland (Bibliographic reference). SWE41091.