A Son of the Rock

The Unstan Cairn stands near the shores of the Loch of Stenness. It’s signposted from the main Kirkwall-Stromness road. Access is via a farm road/track but there is a small car park by the final path to the cairn.

Unlike some of the neolithic remnants we visited on Orkney we had this one to ourselves.

From northeast:-

From northwest:-

Entrance. There is a latched gate to open before crawling into the chambers:-

Entrance to interior from gate:-

We were surprised and delighted that there was plenty of light inside as it has a modern roof with a skylight.

Interior:-

A side chamber:-

Another side chamber:-

In time-honoured tradition people have carved grafitti onto the stones (as those Vikings did at Maeshowe). Some of this at Unstan is very modern, though. Well, there’s no attendant to stop it:-

This carving may be old though:-

Entrance/exit in natural light:-

Entrance/exit lit by flash:-