Clach an Truiseil

This mighty monolith – dating back to the late Bronze Age – is Scotland’s tallest standing stone, measuring nearly 6m (20 feet) in height, it would have been even taller before the change in climate allowed the build up of peat deposits in the area. The size of the monument can only really be appreciated by visiting the site, and archaeologists are still unsure of the methods Neolithic and Bronze Age man employed to erect these gargantuan masses of stone.

Nobody really knows the true purpose of these huge standing stones, they may have served some astronomical or alignment function in accordance to the measuring of the passing seasons, or their use may have been purely religious. One interesting theory suggests that the monument served as a prehistoric sea marker to aid the early fishermen and seafarers.

Legend suggests that the stone harks back to the Norse raiders and settlers of Lewis, who marked the grave of a Norse Prince who died in a battle close to the stones location. This legend is worth further research as there may well have been a battle close to the site, which has been passed down as a folk memory.

Directions: Clach an Truiseil is situated near the sea at Baile An Truiseil , which is to the South West of Borgh. It can be reached from the A857.