Standing stone 100m west of Lezerea Farm

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. Despite restoration the standing stone 100m west of Lezerea Farm was re-erected close to its original location. The surrounding deposits will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the stone and its ritual significance and it still retains its landscape context.

Details

The monument includes a standing stone, situated on a ridge overlooking the upper valley of the River Cobe. The standing stone survives as an upright monolith measuring 3.8m high set into a granite slab which is approximately 2m long by 1.4m wide. During the early 1900s this standing stone was re-erected using a steam engine and was set into the supporting stone to prevent it from falling.

Sources: HER:- PastScape Monument No:-425891

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

CO 78

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

End of official list entry

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