Cattle rubbing stone

A cattle rubbing stone (or clawin post in Scots[1]) is a stone allowing cattle to rub their skin without causing damage to field infrastructure such as fences and posts, or natural features such as trees.

[2] They were once a common sight in pastures in Britain, but many have since been removed to accommodate the needs of modern farming practices.

They can often be distinguished from megaliths such as standing stones by having angular edges showing that they have been cleaved during quarrying[7] rather than be glacial erratics or from other natural sources.

Stones may also have areas of staining caused by the transfer of oil from the hide of the cattle during the rubbing process.

[14] Stones with ancient carvings on them such as cup and rings, petrosomatoglyphs, Pictish, early Christian, Ogham, etc.

A Highland cow rubbing its head on a piece of stone in a pasture
Rubbing stone showing churned up soil and lack of vegetation caused by the cattle, with a visible polished effect
A standing stone used a cattle rubbing stone
A holed stone probably damaged by cattle using it as a rubbing stone. The polishing action caused by cattle rubbing is clearly visible.
The Drybridge standing stone is not made from a suitable stone to have been installed as a rubbing stone