Details

The monument includes two standing and two recumbent stones on the east flank
of the north east end of Trout Hill 850m SSW of the footbridge over
Badgeworthy Water. The stone setting occupies a trapezoidal area which extends
for 0.02ha. The standing stones mark the northern and the southern limits of
the site, the recumbent ones the north eastern and south eastern limits. The
northern standing stone is the tallest and is 300mm high, 250mm wide and 50mm
thick. The stone at the southern end is only a few millimetres high, 120mm
wide and 50mm thick. An erosion hollow 100mm deep surrounds it. The north
eastern recumbent stone is 850mm long, 200mm wide and 70mm thick and lies
within an erosion hollow. The south eastern recumbent stone is 550mm long,
250mm wide and 140mm thick and is earthfast at one end.

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.

The Trout Hill 3 stone setting survives well and will retain archaeological
and environmental evidence relating to its construction and use. Its
importance is increased by being part of a linear group of three other similar
sites that extend for 600m.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Quinnell, N V, Dunn, C J, Lithic Monuments within the Exmoor National Park: A New Survey, (1992), 45

Source: Historic England