Dwarfie Staine
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The artefact referred to as the Dwarfie Staine is one of the
most curious structures Robert visited. It lies on the island of Hoy, at
the base of Ward Hill, and it is an oblong block of stone measuring 28 feet
(8.6 m) long, 13 feet (4m) wide and 6.5 feet (2m) high. A square doorway
has been cut and inside it has been carved out to produce a short tunnel
leading to two separate cells or chambers. Outside, leaning against the hollowed
out rock rests a sandstone block which had been designed to seal the
aperture.
Archeologist Anna Ritchie said of the Dwarfie Staine:
"In the Island of Hoy is an extraordinary rock-cut chamber which is thought probably to have been a Neolithic tomb. The great block of sandstone, into which the chamber had been cut, lies in a most inhospitable valley at the south east foot of Ward Hill, the highest hill in Orkney."
To reach the Dwarfie Staine Robert, took a ferry from Houton, on Mainland, sailed across Scapa Flow to land at the Old Naval Base at Lyness before driving down Hoy's only road towards Quoyness. Just before Quoyness he turned left on the Rackwick road to see the strange structure of the Dwarfie Staine lying at the base of the steep rugged slopes of the Dwarfie Hamars.
