Callanish Standing Stones

Callanish was built around 2900 BC, before Stonehenge in its present form, as a circle of thirteen stones with a central monolith nearly five metres tall, and rows radiating out in four directions to make a rough cross about eighty metres from end to end. The stones are Lewisian gneiss, banded and streaked, some of the oldest rock on earth at around three billion years. Peat grew over the site to a depth of about a metre and a half and it was cut away in 1857 on the landowner's orders, revealing the full height of the stones and a small chambered tomb inside the circle. Several smaller circles stand within a few kilometres. A local tradition recorded in the nineteenth century held that the stones were giants turned to rock. Access is free and unrestricted.

What you actually see

• The cross-shaped plan - a circle with rows radiating in four directions.
• The central monolith - a stone nearly five metres tall inside the ring.
• The gneiss - banded rock around three billion years old.
• The satellite circles - several more settings within a few kilometres.

When to go

Year-round and free at any hour; the site is unfenced and open, and dawn and dusk are the best times. Winter gives long low light and almost nobody. The visitor centre has seasonal hours.

Honest expectations

Lewis weather is wet and windy and there is no shelter at the stones. The visitor centre and car park are a short walk below the site. Coach parties arrive through the middle of the day in summer. Touching and climbing on the stones is discouraged.

Nearby

Dun Carloway broch and the Gearrannan blackhouse village lie north; Stornoway is east.