Clach an Trushal ( gd, Clach an Truiseil, , translated to English "Stone of Compassion") is said to be the tallest
standing stone
A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright rock (geology), stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. T ...
in Scotland.
Above ground it stands approximately tall, is wide and at its thickest point is thick, with a girth at its base of .
The stone is sited in the village of
Ballantrushal
Ballantrushal ( gd, Baile an Truiseil) is a village on the Isle of Lewis in the West Side district, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Ballantrushal is within the parish of Barvas, and is situated on the A857. The standing stone Clach an Trushal ...
on the west side of
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
. Local legend says that it marks the site of a great battle, the last to be fought between the feuding
clans
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
of the
Macaulays and
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqua ...
.
However it is actually the solitary upright stone remaining from a stone circle built about 5,000 years ago. It occupied a place within the circle, although its placement was not central. The second last standing stone was removed in 1914, and used as a
lintel
A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...
.
From the base the stone circle at
Steinacleit
Steinacleit is a prehistoric archeological site on the west coast of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
The site consists of an array of boulders which marks what is left of a chambered cairn, and possibly shows the site was overlain by a ...
archaeological site is clearly visible to the north east. The
Callanish standing stones are southwest.
References
External links
*
{{European Standing Stones
Archaeological sites in the Outer Hebrides
Macaulay family of Lewis
Megalithic monuments in Scotland
Scheduled monuments in Scotland
Buildings and structures in the Isle of Lewis