Details

The monument includes three standing stones, a recumbent stone and the
archaeologically sensitive area between and around those features. The site
is located on the north east facing slope of the ridge at the north east end
of Trout Hill 610m south of the foot bridge over Badgworthy Water. The stone
setting occupies a trapezoidal shape and extends for 0.02ha. The standing
stones mark the northern, western and southern limits of the site and are
between 400mm to 830mm high, 200mm to 330mm wide and 130mm thick. The
recumbent stone lies on the easternmost edge of the site and is 800mm long,
250mm wide and 140mm thick. A central stone survived until the 1970s when an
unexploded shell was detonated against it leaving a shell crater that is 1.5m
in diameter and 400mm deep.

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 settings consist of a group of standing stones set out in an irregular
or random pattern. There are a number of such sites on Exmoor where they
appear to be a regional variation of the more common stone alignments. Stone
settings 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
settings 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. Due to their rarity and longevity as a
monument type all surviving examples are considered to be of national
importance.

Despite the damage to the central stone of the monument, the Trout Hill 2
stone setting survives well and will retain archaeological and environmental
evidence relating to the construction and use of the monument. Its importance
is increased by being part of a linear group of three other similar sites
which extend for 600m.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
McDonnell, R R J, Recommendations for the Management of Archaeological Sites in, (1985), 49
Quinnell, N V, Dunn, C J, Lithic Monuments within the Exmoor National Park: A New Survey, (1992), 43

Source: Historic England