The Long Stone, 275m south east of Horseford Lodge

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. Consequently all undisturbed standing stones and those which represent the main range of types and locations would normally be considered to be of national importance.

The Long Stone 275m south east of Horseford Lodge survives well as an unusual example of its class. Although originally erected as a standing stone, the presence of five incised Christian crosses indicates that the Long Stone continued to have religious significance into the medieval period.

Details

This monument includes a standing stone upon which are incised five depictions of the Christian cross. The stone is situated on a ridge between the Adworthy Brook to the east and an unnamed tributary of the Little Dart River to the west. The incised crosses indicate medieval use, although it may have originally been erected as a prehistoric standing stone. The stone is 2.18m high and rectangular in section. At the base it measures 0.33m by 0.36m and tapers upwards until it measures 0.32m by 0.23m at the top. Each face of the rectangular stone has an incised, simple depiction of a cross. On the northern face a simple cross has been carved and this measures 0.17m high by 0.17m wide. The eastern face has another simple cross, 0.09m high by 0.08m wide. On the western face is a Maltese style cross measuring 0.16m high by 0.16m wide. The southern face has a simple cross with rounded ends to the arms and shaft; this measures 0.12m high and 0.17m wide. There is a fifth inscribed cross on the top of the stone. The stone is leaning quite markedly, but has not shown any major signs of drastic movement in the last 20 years.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

28603

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Masson Phillips, E M, Transactions of the Devonshire Association in The Ancient Stone Crosses of Devon, Part 2, Vol. 70, (1938), 309

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS71NE11, (1982)
MPP fieldwork by H. Gerrard, (1995)

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