The Long Stone

Summary

Standing stone called The Long Stone.

Reasons for Designation

Standing stones are prehistoric ritual or ceremonial monuments with dates ranging from the Late Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age for the few excavated examples. They comprise single or paired upright orthostatic slabs, ranging from under lm to over 6m high where still erect. They are often conspicuously sited and close to other contemporary monument classes. They can be accompanied by various features: many occur in or on the edge of round barrows, and where excavated, associated subsurface features have included stone cists, stone settings, and various pits and hollows filled in with earth containing human bone, cremations, charcoal, flints, pots and pot sherds. Similar deposits have been found in excavated sockets for standing stones, which range considerably in depth. Several standing stones also bear cup and ring marks. Standing stones may have functioned as markers for routeways, territories, graves, or meeting points, but their accompanying features show they also bore a ritual function and that they form one of several ritual monument classes of their period that often contain a deposit of cremation and domestic debris as an integral component. No national survey of standing stones has been undertaken, and estimates range from 50 to 250 extant examples, widely distributed throughout England but with concentrations in Cornwall, the North Yorkshire Moors, Cumbria, Derbyshire and the Cotswolds. Standing stones are important as nationally rare monuments, with a high longevity and demonstrating the diversity of ritual practices in the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age.

The standing stone called The Long Stone survives well and will retain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its erection, longevity, function, funerary and ritual practices, territorial significance and overall landscape context.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 8 July 2015. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument includes a standing stone situated on the summit of a wide and gently undulating plateau. The standing stone survives as an upright earthfast slab of oolite measuring up to 2.1m high, 1.7m wide and 0.4m thick which is perforated by at least two large and several smaller holes. This gives it its local name of ‘The Holey Stone’. Antiquarians suggested it was once part of a chamber in a long barrow along with other nearby (and now somewhat dispersed stones) although a recent geophysical survey could find no trace of such a feature. An even older local tradition suggested that children could be cured of rickets if they were passed through the holes.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

GC 18

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
PastScape 208981

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry