Undated standing stone.


The name Cloughen corra ('odd stones') is recorded on an early 18th century deed. The name was applied to a group of stones whose number has gradually diminished to the single survivor standing today. The grid reference relates to the surviving stone.


Lewis' 'Topographical Dictionary of England' (1831) states that there are five stones present. This is confirmed by reminiscence recorded in the 19th century, though perhaps by the end of the same decade it seems that the number had reduced to four, according to the Archaeological Commissioners' report of 1878 when referring to a time 40 years earlier. Oswald's 'Vestigia' of 1860 likewise records four stones (in an arc), but the Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1868 only records two.


JR Bruce of the Manx Museum (of whose manuscript notes the above narrative is a summary) notes a photograph in his possession in 1970, taken in 1907, showing two stones present, and that W Cubbon (director of the Manx Museum 1932-40) told him one of the stones was 'destroyed' c.1919. Bruce himself recalls only ever seeing one stone from 1921 onwards.


The surviving stone stands at SC2215971634. The visible portion is just over 2m high, 0.8m broad and 0.7m thick.


Modern reconfiguration of the surrounding field boundaries and a trackway has significantly changed the landscape context of this site from that in which most of the antiquarian observations were made, whilst also diminishing the extent to which the remains survive as upstanding features, which together makes their interpretation difficult. The arrangement of the standing stones led Bruce to state that there was 'little doubt' that they represented the remains of the forecourt of a chambered Neolithic tomb.