It is probably shale, oriented northeast to southwest, and it has been standing long enough to acquire a name that raises more questions than it answers.

The stone is recorded on the Ordnance Survey six-inch maps of both 1839 and 1925 as 'Clochnabran', a name that may fold a raven into its etymology, 'Bran' being an old Irish word for the bird. Whether that points to a forgotten local legend, a personal name, or simply an old descriptive association with the landscape is unclear. The stone sits on a modest north-south spur of land, a slight natural ridge that would have made it a visible landmark across the surrounding ground. Its dimensions, roughly 1.1 to 1.3 metres wide and 0.4 to 0.5 metres thick at the base, give it a presence that is substantial without being monumental, the kind of feature that registers in the corner of the eye before the mind quite catches up.