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The Great Britain Guide

Hill forts · Scottish Islands

Stones of Stenness

Free admission

Stones of Stenness — henge in Orkney Islands, Scotland, UK.

Stones of Stenness, hill forts in Scottish Islands

Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
1 h–2 h
  • Free entry
  • Dog-friendly

About

Stones of Stenness is a hill fort in the United Kingdom. Heritage designation: scheduled monument. Part of Heart of Neolithic Orkney. Wikidata describes it as: "henge in Orkney Islands, Scotland, UK". Coordinates: 58.9939°, -3.2081°.

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From the Wikipedia article

The Standing Stones of Stenness are a Neolithic monument five miles northeast of Stromness on the mainland of Orkney, Scotland. This may be the oldest henge site in the British Isles. Various traditions associated with the stones survived into the modern era and they form part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site. They are cared for by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

Architecture

The surviving stones are sited on a promontory at the south bank of the stream that joins the southern ends of the sea loch Loch of Stenness and the freshwater Loch of Harray. The name, which is pronounced stane-is in Orcadian dialect, comes from Old Norse meaning stone headland. The stream is now bridged, but at one time was crossed by a stepping stone causeway, and the Ring of Brodgar lies about away to the north-west, across the stream and near the tip of the isthmus formed between the two lochs. Maeshowe chambered cairn is about to the east of the Standing Stones of Stenness and several other Neolithic monuments also lie in the vicinity, suggesting that this area had particular…

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
58.9939, -3.2081
Postcode
KW16 3JZ
Parliamentary constituency
Orkney and Shetland

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Stones of Stenness?
Stones of Stenness is in the Scottish Islands, United Kingdom (postcode KW16 3JZ).
Is Stones of Stenness a listed building?
Stones of Stenness is officially recognised as scheduled monument listed.
Is Stones of Stenness free to visit?
Yes, Stones of Stenness is free to enter.
How do I get to Stones of Stenness?
Drivers can navigate to postcode KW16 3JZ. It sits within the Orkney and Shetland parliamentary constituency.