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Watch Stone is a standing stone and associated monument complex located near Barnhouse settlement in Orkney, Scotland. The site comprises a substantial upright stone and forms part of a broader landscape of Neolithic settlement and ceremonial activity dating to approximately 3000-2500 BCE. Barnhouse itself represents one of Orkney's significant Neolithic settlements, contemporary with the nearby sites of Skara Brae and the Ring of Brodgar, and the Watch Stone likely functioned within the ritual and territorial organisation of this prehistoric community. The monument complex demonstrates the integration of domestic habitation with ceremonial stone settings characteristic of Orkney's Neolithic period.
Watch Stone, stone settings, Barnhouse settlement, and related remains is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM90352. View the official record →
Watch Stone is a standing stone and associated monument complex located near Barnhouse settlement in Orkney, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM90352.
Watch Stone, stone settings, Barnhouse settlement, and related remains is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM90352.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Little Barnhouse, mound, 160m NE of (1.2 km), Diamond Cottage,defended promontory N of (2.6 km), Knowe of Onston,or Unstan,chambered cairn (2.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Watch Stone, stone settings, Barnhouse settlement, and related remains's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Watch Stone, stone settings, Barnhouse settlement, and related remains stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.