Details

The monument includes three standing stones, a partly buried stone and the
archaeologically sensitive area between and around the stones. It is located
at the top of Porlock Hill 150m north west of the cattle grid on the A39 trunk
road. The stones are set out in an apparently random manner and extend for
0.02ha. The central and largest stone is 1m high by 1.5m long and has three
sets of inscriptions on its south east face. These are probably sets of
initials and are MS, JHW and JTM. The style of the lettering appears to be
18th or 19th century and is therefore not contemporary with the period of
construction and use of the monument. The Porlock Hill stone setting is
believed to be the `fif stones' mentioned in the perambulations of the Royal
Forest in the 13th and 14th century.

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 Porlock Hill stone setting survives well and will retain archaeological
and environmental evidence relating to its use and development. The
identification of the site as the `fif stones' mentioned in the perambulations
of the Royal Forest in the 13th and 14th centuries show the continuing
importance of the site as a feature in the landscape.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Quinnell, N V, Dunn, C J, Lithic Monuments within the Exmoor National Park: A New Survey, (1992), 64
Burrow, I, Minnitt, S, Murless, B, 'Proc Som Nat Hist Arch Soc' in Somerset Archaeology, 1981, , Vol. 126, (1982), 69

Source: Historic England