1. One of the most westerly boulder-defined boundaries of prehistoric character on Skomer, yet a boundary which has very different characteristics to its near neighbours. It therefore appears to have originated as an earlier ritual monument - a stone row.
The row of orthostatic (upright) slabs and boulders, which incorporates some of its largest stones in its central and northern part, extends for 66m aligned generally north/south. The boulder line leads northwards from the southern coastal cliffs of Skomer to a low rock outcrop; from here it kinks markedly to the east whilst climbing and terminates some 14m further on in a small summit burial cairn (at SM 7163 0913). The cairn has no public access as it lies off the main visitor path which passes through the centre of the row.
Superficially this line of boulders appears to be a robbed-out prehistoric field boundarty. However, the size of some of the larger boulders incorporated in the row, together with its northern kink and termination in a summit cairn, all suggest a ritual origin to this monument in common with stone rows linking to terminal cairns found among the Bronze Age ritual complexes of Dartmoor.
2. The stone row was visited and surveyed for drone photogrammetry by Louise Barker and Toby Driver for the Royal Commission, 4th April 2025. Link to Sketchfab model: https://skfb.ly/pxQuI
Reference:
Barker, L., Davis, O., Driver, T. and Johnston, R. 2012b. Puffins amidst prehistory: reinterpreting the complex landscape of Skomer Island, in: Britnell, W. J. and Silvester, R. J. Reflections on the Past, Essays in Honour of Frances Lynch. Cambrian Archaeological Association. Welshpool. 280-302.