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Ancient monument

Stones of Stenness

Mainland, Orkney

One of the oldest stone circles in Britain, and the lost Odin Stone.

The Stones of Stenness may be the oldest stone circle in the British Isles. Only four of its tall, blade-thin stones still stand.

Read the full story, see it on the map, get directions and find what else is nearby in the free Hidden Britain Atlas map.

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When
c. 3100 BC
Where
58.9938, -3.2077
Group
Circles & monuments

Visiting

Historic Environment Scotland. Free, a short walk from Brodgar.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
From the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

On a promontory between the Loch of Stenness and the Loch of Harray, about five miles north-east of Stromness, stands a circle of enormously thin stones.

The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.

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