MDE1280 - The Long Stone, Challacombe Common (Monument)

A standing stone known as the Longstone is 9 feet high, 2 feet 2 inches wide and 7 inches thick. 'Long Stone Barrow' is located to the southeast, and further eastwards is 'Wood Barrow'. The site is located on a long east-west ridge, one of the highest areas of Exmoor. [1] (SS 7051 4307) Long Stone (NR). [3] No change; classified as Bronze Age by Grinsell [5]. Published survey 1:2500 correct. [5] The menhir is weathering badly, and also being worn away by sheep rubbing against it in the summer time. [7] The stone is shown on Donn's Map of 1765 but incorrectly positioned on the Somerset side of the County Boundary. [8] The monument is Scheduled: Devon 204, entitled 'Chapman Longstone'. [9] SS 7051 4307 Longstone. A Standing Stone situated on a flat topped ridge of rough grassland and heather at about 465 metres Ordnance Datum. It is a tall slatey slab, 3 metres high, 1.2 metres wide and 0.25 metres thick at its base. It is orientated northeast/southwest, and an Ordnance Survey bench mark has been cut on its southeast side. There is a 'trigger' stone 0.7 metres high, 0.5 metres high and 0.15 metres thick, set against its southeast side. It stands in an erosion hollow 3 metres in diameter and 0.3 metres maximum depth. [10] SS 7051443072. `Long Stone' a prehistoric standing stone as described by [10]. Published Surveyed 1:2500 correct. [11] The Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment of 2009 gave the site a survival score of 4. [16] A watercolour image of the Long Stone was produced by Leo Davey for the Exmoor Moorland Landscapes Partnership Scheme. [17] The site was surveyed in March 2015 as part of the 2015 Exmoor Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment. It was given a survival score of 4. [18] The site was survered as part of the Exmoor Standing Stone Condition Survey 2017-2018. The main upright, measuring: 2.6 x 0.8 x 0.2m, is propped up by a substantial trigger stone, measuring: 0.6 x 0.12 x 0.4m. The Stone’s relationship to the surrounding barrows and landscape is likely significant, especially upon this particularly exposed ridge. The monuments condition is considered to be “good”, since the last survey in 2015. The main threat continues to be livestock which have been rubbing against the stone and have created a very significant erosion hollow at the base. While both stones are very well-set, there is a concern that if this continues the stone may fall, especially if the trigger stone is disturbed. [19-20] The site was photographed by the RCHME in 1999. [21] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [22]