The Long Stone or Eddystone, standing stone 210m north east of Music Water

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, or Eddystone, standing stone 210m north east of Music Water is very well-preserved, and buried features relating to it can be expected to survive. The bulk, height, distinctive shape and white colour of this stone make it particularly prominent, demonstrating the conspicuous character of many monuments of this type. Its adaptation by limited modification of its top to form a local landmark provides an example of the continuity or renewal of the impact of prehistoric sites in the landscape. The Long Stone illustrates well the association of standing stones with other types of ritual or ceremonial monuments, through its proximity to prehistoric barrow cemeteries, and the evidence for a barrow site nearby.

Details

The scheduling includes a standing stone of the Late Neolithic to Bronze Age known as the Long Stone, or Eddystone, situated on a slight north west slope below a chain of hills running east-west, north of St Columb Major. The standing stone is a massive, unworked block of quartz, set upright. At ground level it is an irregular diamond shape in plan, measuring up to approximately 2m across, its sides being in the region of 1.2m to 1.8m wide, and 6.3m around. The height of the stone is approximately 4m. It rises with a slight taper to a height of around 2m, where its girth is 5.2m. Above this, it narrows to a blunt pinnacle near the centre line of the stone. The north east and south west sides both fall away with a marked, though irregular, step below the apex, so that the stone has a shouldered outline when viewed from the south east or north west. The surface of the rock is uneven, with natural fault lines, and small ledges and crevices. The St Ervan tithe map of 1842 provides evidence for a prehistoric barrow, now levelled, associated with the standing stone. The top of the rock has a small hole used relatively recently to support a weather vane.

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:

32979

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Hague, B, Christie, R, Lighthouses their Architecture History and Archaeology, (1975), 121-123
Tarrant, M, Cornwall's Lighthouse Heritage, (1990), 41-43

Other
Title: Pydar Map and notes Source Date: 1842 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: MS at RIC library, Truro
Title: St Ervan Tithe Apportionment Source Date: 1842 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: 743, 745, 696, 697
Title: Ordnance Survey 1" Map Source Date: 1810 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: Date approx
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Map Source Date: 1880 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: Date approx.
MS at RIC library, Truro. Date approx, Henderson, C, Notebooks of Parochial Antiquities, Notebooks of Parochial Antiquities, (1917)
SW 96 NW 13, Quinnell, NV, Ordnance Survey Index Card, (1977)

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