Ring of Brodgar Orkney Islands, Scotland

Scheduled Monument Data

The Ring of Brodgar has been designated a scheduled monument in Scotland with the following information. Please note that not all available data may be shown here, minor errors and/or formatting may have occurred during transcription, and some information may have become outdated since scheduling.

Historic Scotland ID
SM0
Name
Ring of Brogar, stone circle, henge and nearby remains
Parish
Stenness
County
Orkney Islands
Easting
329474
Northing
1013300
Categories
Prehistoric ritual and funerary: stone circle or ring
Date Listed
18 August 1882
Date Amended
16 April 1998
Source
Historic Environment Scotland Portal: SM0 official listing

Description

Measuring nearly 104 m in diameter, the Ring of Brodgar is an impressive Neolithic monument shaped in a true circle. It is thought to have originally consisted of 60 stones. Today 27 stones remain standing, ranging in height from 2.1 m to 4.7 m. The ring is positioned on a scenic strip of land between the freshwater Loch of Harray (to NE) and the saltwater Loch of Stenness (to SW), the duality of which may have inspired the monument's ancient builders.

Scheduled Monument Description

Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

The monument comprises all remains within the area in the care of the Secretary of State for Scotland at and around Ring of Brogar including a stone circle and a ditched enclosure (a henge) known together as the Ring of Brogar, four large burial mounds including Fresh Knowe, Salt Knowe and Plumcake Mound, up to a dozen small burial mounds and a stone setting including the Comet Stone on a platform, together with all artificial remains within the area around and between the visible monuments.

The area to be scheduled is the area owned by the Secretary of State for Scotland, measuring 345.5m or thereabouts on its SW side, 366.5m or thereabouts on its NW side and 425m or thereabouts on its SE side and bounded on the NE by the edge of the Loch of Harray and elsewhere by a fence as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.