Details

The monument includes a stone row of 50 standing stones and the
archaeologically sensitive area between and around them. The site is located
on the west facing slopes of Honeycombe Hill 320m south east of the confluence
of Embercombe and Chetsford waters. The stone row is 68m long and 3m wide at
its widest point. It is orientated roughly north east to south west. The
monument changes its orientation to a more northerly direction 56m from the
south western end before continuing for a further 12m. The longest section
comprises an irregular, single row of stones of which none are higher than
100mm. This part of the row is marked by a terminal stone 600mm high at the
south western end and by a 500mm high stone at the north eastern end where the
orientation changes. From this point the monument comprises an irregular
double or triple row which extends for 12m. The stones in this section are no
higher than 200mm and at the north eastern end there is a terminal stone 400mm
high.

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.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Exmoor is the most easterly of the three main upland areas in the south
western peninsula 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 its monuments. However, survey work has confirmed a comparable
richness of archaeological remains with evidence of human exploitation and
occupation from the Mesolithic period to the present day. The well-preserved
and often visible relationships between settlement sites, major land
boundaries, trackways and ceremonial and funerary monuments give insight into
successive changes in the pattern of land-use through time.
Stone alignments or stone rows consist of upright stones set in a single line,
or in two or more parallel lines, up to several hundred metres in length. They
are often sited close to prehistoric burial monuments, such as small cairns
and cists, and to ritual monuments, such as stone circles, and are therefore
considered to have had an important ceremonial function. Stone alignments were
being constructed and used from the Late Neolithic period to the Middle Bronze
Age (c.2500-1000 BC) and provide rare evidence of ceremonial and ritual
practices during these periods. The recorded examples on Exmoor form an
important subgroup of the total population and are considered to be of
national importance.

The Wilmersham Common stone row is unusual on Exmoor where stone rows tend to
have smaller, more discrete, arrangements. The absence of gaps and recumbent
stones in the alignment suggest that it is largely intact. The monument will
retain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the use and
development of the site.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Quinnell, N V, Dunn, C J, Lithic Monuments within the Exmoor National Park: A New Survey, (1992), 55
Other
McDonnell, R R J, (1993)

Source: Historic England