<< Our Photo Pages >> The Longstone (Shovel Down) - Standing Stone (Menhir) in England in Devon
Submitted by AngieLake on Saturday, 16 October 2004 Page Views: 11301
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: The Longstone (Shovel Down)Country: England County: Devon Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Nearest Town: Chagford Nearest Village: Teigncombe
Map Ref: SX66038568
Latitude: 50.655347N Longitude: 3.8966W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Andy B would like to visit
Catrinm visited on 1st Oct 2023 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4
Anne T visited on 16th May 2019 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 3 The Longstone: A welcoming standing stone, very prominent in the landscape, sitting between rows 5 and 6. I had fun posing the group for photographs around the stone.
jeffrep visited on 21st May 2011 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 3
graemefield visited on 1st Jan 2004 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 2
SandyG TheCaptain AngieLake NickyD have visited here
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4 Ambience: 4.25 Access: 3
A north/south avenue leads directly to it. There are numerous stone rows in the vicinity, and Scorhill circle is not far away to the north.
According to Richard Cavendish's book 'Prehistoric England' (Artus Books, Orion Publishing 1983): "SW of Kes Tor, on Shovel Down, SX660860, are stone rows leading to burial cairns and a 10ft (3m) monolith, the Longstone. A stone avenue may originally have led from the Scorhill Circle to the Fernworthy Circle SX655841 and on to Grey Wethers SX638832." If Richard is right, it would surely have passed this stone.
Update November 2019: This standing stone is recorded as Pastscape Monument No. 443595, which tells us: "The Long Stone stands in the middle of two stone rows ('E' (row 5) and '7F' (row 6) and marks the boundary of the three parishes of Chagford, Gidleigh and Lydford. It was referred to as the Langstone in the Perambulation of the Forest of Dartmoor in 1240 AD. It stands 10 feet 5 inches high and the base measurements are N 35 1/2 inches, E 24 inches, S 33 inches and W 21 inches."
The stone is also featured on the Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks website - see their entries for Shovel Down Long Stone Standing Stone and the Shovel Down Complex. PDW also gives a link to the Devon & Dartmoor HER: MDV6149 (Longstone on Shovel Down, Chagford Common). The stone is also scheduled as part of Historic England List ID 1017874 (The North Teign coaxial field system (western part) and associated later remains at Shovel Down, Stonetor Hill and Long Ridge). More information can also be found on the Legendary Dartmoor website: The Longstone.
The Longstone also forms the ends of both Shoveldown Rows 5 and 6, and features on the Stone Rows of Great Britain: see their entry for Shoveldown 5, which includes a plan of the monuments at Shoveldown showing their relationships to each other, plus a photograph of the Longstone.
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85m SSW 199° Shovel Down row 6* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX660856)
130m N 354° Shovel Down row 5* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX66028581)
200m S 179° Three Boys* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX66038548)
212m N 350° Shovel Down Cairn Row 4* Cairn (SX66008589)
234m SSE 159° Thornworthy Corner North Cist (SX66118546)
274m NNW 348° Shovel Down row 4* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX65988595)
282m S 185° Shovel Down row 7* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX660854)
318m NW 312° Shovel Down Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX658859)
320m NNW 344° Shovel Down* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX65958599)
359m NNW 346° Shovel Down Fourfold Circle* Stone Circle (SX65958603)
500m NNW 342° Shovel Down row 3* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX65898616)
521m N 355° Shovel Down row 1* Stone Row / Alignment (SX660862)
526m N 350° Shovel Down row 2* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX65958620)
560m NNW 337° Shovel Down stone circle* Stone Circle (SX65828620)
749m W 265° Stonetor Brookhead East Cist (SX65288563)
779m NE 39° Kes Tor Cairn* Cairn (SX6653286277)
793m NE 39° Kes Tor Rock Basin* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (SX66558628)
806m WSW 253° Stonetor Hill Cairn Circle* Cairn (SX6525085470)
819m NE 36° Kestor Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX66538633)
900m WSW 247° Stonetor Hill Stone Ring Cairn Circle Ring Cairn (SX65198535)
904m SE 133° Thornworthy Down Stone Row / Alignment (SX66688505)
1.1km NE 39° Modern Stone Circle near Kestor Rock* Modern Stone Circle etc (SX66748652)
1.2km NNE 16° The Round Pound* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX66398685)
1.4km SSW 199° Fernworthy stone row N* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX6553884336)
1.4km SSW 198° Fernworthy Cairn N* Cairn (SX65548433)
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