MDE1052 - Prehistoric standing stone at Wistlandpound (Monument)

SS 6513 4301. STONE (TI). [1] Its present height is 2 feet 9 inches but it has apparently been broken; its width is 2 feet and its thickness 3 inches. The directions of its width points approximately northwest. [2] It is of black slate like stone and bears no trace of weathering. It bears no resemblance to any accepted standing stone seen by this investigator. [3] SS 6512 4301. An erect slab of local shale, oriented northeast to southwest, is 0.7 metres wide, 0.6 metres high and 0.05 metres thick. Its origin and purpose are not apparent. Published survey 1:2500 correct. [4] SS 6513 4301. A standing stone situated about 305 metres Ordnance Datum in a regularly ploughed pasture field near Little Rowley Farm. It is a thin grey slatey slab 0.7 metres high, 0.7 metres wide (east to west) and 0.1 metres thick. It is firmly set in a slight erosion hollow of 0.7 metre radius and 0.2 metres maximum depth. It has a curved top which appears unweathered so it may have been broken. It could have a prehistoric origin despite its present use as a rubbing post. [5] Grinsell gives the National Grid Reference as SS 653 431. [6] Map or plan of Rowley Down by Robert Ballment dated 1 March 1797 shows a number of boundary stones around the edge of the down. This stone is not shown on the map but the hedge line on which it stands is shown on the map as a road across the down. [8] Stone stands at junction with road (MDE20570) and track running round to Holwell Barrows. [9] The site is a thin slate-like slab measuring 0.65 x 0.75 x 0.08m, set in the northern side of a field, adjacent to the public footpath running the length of the historic road between Leys Lane and the B3226. It is plausible, due to this historic road that the stone may be a way marker, or its location within the pasture field may suggest a rubbing stone. However, it could also be a prehistoric standing stone. The condition of this stone is considered to be “very good” and it has suffered little-to-no deterioration since the last survey in 1992. Livestock rubbing is having a minor effect on the stone. [11] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [12]