Flodda
Standing Stone/Stone Circle
NF 825 553
Taking the main road south, cross the causeways from North Uist to Benbecula. Once on the island take the left turn to Flodda. We were heading here to look for the seal colony. After about ½ mile along this lane there is a standing stone to the south (on the right) Park near a thatched cottage and go through the metal gate on the right beside a small building. Walk SW uphill and over the rise you will see a gate ahead and should see a glimpse of the top of the tallest stone just ahead.
This is marked on the OS map as a standing stone. A visit to the site shows there is more here. We counted twelve stones in a circle with four of them standing. The tallest is about 1.5m (5ft) to the south and the other three standing stones are in the southwest arc, these are about 1m high and leaning slightly.
The tallest stone in the south
The diameter of the circle is about 25m but we had no accurate measure with us. Just inside the circle to the east seems to be the remains of a burial chamber on a low mound. Two large slabs lean towards each other, the largest is about 1.2x1.2m (4x4ft). Surrounding the chamber are traces of small kerb stones. The stones are all gneiss and some of the fallen slabs are up to 1.4m.
The mound
About 60m to the south of the circle is a flat slab of gneiss that has several small hollows, possibly natural but they could be man-made.
View
of the whole site
We
found this site on the way to visit a seal colony on the east of Flodda
island about 1.5 miles further on. Carry on over the causeway to where
there is a large turning space. Park here and go through the gate up some
rough track on the right (not the left to the houses). Carry on to an old
wooden gate and go through this, you will see a dumped car ahead. This had
information and a map of the seal colony stuck to the windows. Carry on
straight to the higher ground on the edge of the island, this overlooks
several tiny islands and you should see seals laying around all over them.
Summer
2002
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