Barpa Langass
Chambered Cairn
NF 837 657
This site is close to the stone circle Pobull Fhinn and can be part of a circular walk including both. There is a space to park on the road to Lochmaddy on the right but even at the end of July this was quite deep underwater. From the road climb over the fence where plastic has been put over the barbed wire and follow the clear track uphill. You can’t miss it as it is visible for miles.
The cairn is situated on the NW shoulder of Ben Langass and it is the most impressive and best preserved burial chamber in the Western Isles. It is a passage grave with the rock covered cairn measuring about 24m diameter and rising to a height of 4.2m but there is a couple of metres of peat now so originally it would have looked even more impressive.
The
roof consists of three even larger slabs, the longest being over 3m (10ft)
resting on the uprights. This is the only chamber in the islands with a
roof that is intact. Several finds have been recorded from an early
excavation of the site that include pottery fragments from the Neolithic,
Bronze and Iron Age periods, a barbed arrowhead, flint tools and an
unusual circular disc of mica, probably used as jewellery.
Summer
2002