MSO6845 - Saddle Stone (Monument)

SS 7150 4349. Saddle Stone (Boundary Stone) (NAT) [1] The Saddle Stone was a boundary stone which stood originally at the northwest corner of Exmoor Forest (SS 7148 4353) and was removed thence within living memory. It is shown here on the 'Map of Exmoor' of 1675, name Sadler Stone, and appears to be a natural recumbent stone, somewhat saddle-shaped. Its existence is first recorded in 1651, as Sadley Stone, in a Survey of Exmoor Chase. Variant spellings of Sadlers Stone, Sadlerstone and Saddle Stone appear in lawsuit documents of 1678, but the latter form was accepted by the 18th Century. [2,3] According to MacDermott (ap425) the Saddle Stone, one of the original Devon/Somerset County Boundary marker stones, which was also a marker for the boundary of Exmoor Forest, used to be situated at SS 7149 4355 'the corner of the forest, some eighty yards below and north of the gate known as Saddle Stone Gate. The stone is depicted on a 1675 'Map of Exmore' (a. frontispiece) annotated Sadler Stone, however this sketch map does not locate its position precisely [2]. On the Lynton Tithe Map [4] there is a sketch map 'Saddlers Stone' with the note '12 or 15 stone weight'. It is not clear on the map exactly where the stone is situated however this sketch implies it was still extant in 1840 although MacDermot (p425) states that it disappeared 'more than 90 years ago' (ie about 1820). At SS 7148 4357 a stone is shown on the 1887-88 Ordnance Survey six inch map [1] about 20 metres north of the original site of the Saddle Stone but this appears to have been no more than a minor way marker and not the actual Saddle Stone itself. There is no trace of a stone at, or near, this position now. At SS 71505 43480, to the east of Saddle Gate and 2.5 metres to the north of an enclosure bank lies an earthfast stone. It is basically rectangular (0.6 metres by 0.4 metres and 0.3 metres high) with a peak at either end and a central hollow (or 'saddle'?). The annotation 'Saddle Stone' appears in this area on the 1887-88 Ornance Survey six-inch map [1] but the scale is too small to see the portrayal of the actual stone so its exact position cannot be verified. Though this does not look particularly like the tithe sketch it could perhaps be the Saddle Stone, however MacDermot (p349) says that though always marked as 'Saddle Stone' by the Ornance Survey, this is unlikely to be the original stone. Note: this stone should not be confused with a tall stone gatepost (SS 71502 43476) in the bank at the west side of Saddle Gate which has an Ordnance Survey benchmark engraved on it. [5] The Saddle Stone, or Saddler's Stone, is recorded in Domesday as Estandona. The stone was held by Ralf de Pomeray, the boundary of whose lands it probably marked. Before the Conquest it was held by Algar the Priest. [6] Lies the western boundary of the Forest of Exmoor. [7] "Saddle Stone (B.S.)" is marked on the Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division map. [8] The stone mentioned by [5] at SS 71505 43480 is depicted on the 2021 MasterMap data and labelled "Saddle Stone (BS)". [10] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [11]