THEORIES ABOUT CALLANISH:
John Morisone, an ‘Indweller’ of Lewis, wrote in about 1680 that the “great stones standing up in ranks .... were sett up in place for devotione”.
Ever since, each writer has had his own theory about the site’s purpose .........
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The Chief Druid, standing by the centre stone, addressed the assembled people....
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The temple was dedicated to the sun, with subsidiary links to the winds and the sea....
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The numbers of stones (mis-counted) represented the numbers of weeks and months in the year....
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The site was the supreme court of the Hebridean monarch....
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It was built by the Norsemen and dedicated to Thor....
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It was a tomb built in his lifetime for the burial of a great Christian king....
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As early as 1808, James Headrick claimed the site as a “rude astronomical observatory”, an idea which gained momentum in the second half of the 20th century.
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Thom claimed a number of alignments on sun, moon and stars, at and between the various Callanish sites.
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A computer study by Gerald Hawkins, as a follow-up to “Stonehenge Decoded”, suggested many alignments, but their accuracy is doubted as a result of the more rigorous approach of later researchers.
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Studies, in which I was involved in the 70s and 80s, suggested a number of significant alignments to the extreme positions of the lunar cycle. At the 1987 major standstill of the moon, when it reached its most southerly position in the 19-year cycle, it was clearly seen that the alignment south along the Callanish avenue indicated a spectacular moonset into the circle and the rocky outcrop to the south. The phenomenon may be seen again in 2006.
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DIRECTIONS :
Take the A859 and A858 about 16 miles across the moors from Stornoway to the village of Callanish (‘Calanais’ on Gaelic signs) and follow the brown tourist signs to the Visitor Centre. There is no admission charge to the Stones or to the Centre, only to the small exhibition within it – and most of the information there is duplicated on interpretation boards on site.
NB 213330; Landranger sheets 8 and 13
NEARBY SITES :
Within a radius of a few miles, there are numerous other standing stones and at least three other circles which are worth a visit. Local sites have been given numbers, with the ‘main site’ referred to as Callanish I. While some archaeologists object to this numbering, on the basis that it infers a definite, but unproven, relationship between the sites, it is convenient to visitors ‘who have not the Gaelic’.
Callanish II, Cnoc Ceann a’Ghàrraidh (NB 222326) – there are five standing stones, up to 10’ 9” tall, and two prone slabs to be seen today. Other features were shown on early plans. The stones probably formed an elliptical ring with a longer axis of 71 feet, a considerably larger ‘enclosure’ than within the circle at Callanish I.
Callanish III, Cnoc Fillibhir Bheag (NB 225327) – there are 20 stones at this site, of which four form an inner setting, while nine stand and seven lie on or near the line of an outer ring. The maximum dimension of the ring is 45 feet.
Callanish IV, Ceann Hulavig (NB 230304) – five stones stand here, the tallest nearly nine feet high. They form another ellipse, about 44 feet by 31 feet. Like the previous two sites, about three feet of peat were cleared from the stones in 1858.
There are many other single standing stones and groups of stones in the Callanish area and throughout the Outer Hebrides - see The Stones Around Callanish and Callanish and other Megalithic Sites of the Outer Hebrides.
