Edgerley Stone

Reasons for Designation

Exmoor is the most easterly of the three main upland areas in the south western peninsular of England. In contrast to the other two areas, Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor, there has been no history of antiquarian research and little excavation of Exmoor monuments. However, detailed survey work by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, has confirmed a comparable richness of archaeological remains with evidence of human exploitation and occupation from the Mesolithic period to the present day. Boundary stones are single free-standing upright stones which were erected in significant positions as territorial boundary markers and they are usually of rough, undressed local stone. Edgerley Stone survives well and is sited in a highly visual location along the route of a major thoroughfare through Exmoor. Its first known function was to mark the boundary of the Royal Forest of Exmoor and it continues to mark the county boundary between Devon and Somerset and the parish boundary between Exmoor and Challacombe. Edgerley Stone is well documented and is known from 13th century charters to be located in its present position from at least 1207.

Details

The monument includes a boundary marker stone known as Edgerley Stone located on the north side of the B3358 between Challacombe and Simonsbath to the south of Bill Hill. The marker is formed by a rough wedge-shaped stone of local origin set into a grass verge adjacent to the road. It is 1.5m in height, 0.8m across at its widest point gradually narrowing to 0.45m at the top, and is up to 0.4m thick. Traces of the names `F Isaac' and `F Bray' have been inscribed into the front of the stone, probably in antiquity as the formal lettering and weathered condition of the inscriptions suggests. An Ordnance Survey benchmark is also visible on the stone. Edgerley Stone is known to have been in its present position from at least 1207 when it was already marking the boundary of the Royal Forest of Exmoor. It is referred to in a charter granted by King John at Winchester which disafforested the men of Devon and confirmed the appointment of William de Wrotham as warden of the forests of Somerset. Prior to the 13th century the boundary stone would have stood in open moorland although it is not possible to establish a closer dating for its origin. Several later records of the 17th century refer to the stone which was and still remains an important and well known boundary marker. It forms one of eleven such boundary markers which defined the Devon county boundary, a boundary which remained unchanged until the early 19th century.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

35583

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Macdermot, E T, A History of the Forest of Exmoor, (1973)

End of official list entry

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