ntil the winter of 1814, approximately 140 metres (150 yards) to the north of the Standing Stones o' Stenness stood a holed monolith that occupied a special place in the customs, traditions and lore of the Orcadian people.

     The Odin Stone stood approximately 2.5 metres (8 feet) high with a breadth of about one metre (3.5 feet).   It is thought to have been cut and dragged to its lochside location around 3000 BC.

     But although it had stood resolutely in the same position for thousands of years, the destruction of the Odin Stone took less than a day.
In December 1814, the farmer on whose land the stones stood - an incomer by the name of Captain Mackay - waged an attack on the Stenness megaliths.

     At the time, the Odin Stone and the circles of Stenness and Brodgar still played a major part in common Orcadian tradition.  Claiming that his land was being ruined by the large numbers of people visiting the ancient sites, Mackay set out to remove them.  He began with the Odin Stone, which he destroyed, using the stone to construct a cow-shed.