Details

The monument includes three standing stones on the south eastern edge of
Hoaroak Hill and the archaeologically sensitive area between and around them.
It is located 120m WNW of the sheepfold at the east end, and on the
north side, of Long Chains Combe. The stones define a triangular area with
distances between the stones giving a 9m side facing south west, a 5m side
facing north west and a 10.7m side facing north east. The monument covers an
area 22.6m long and 9m wide at its greatest extent. The stones are between
300mm and 450mm high, about 200mm wide and 100mm to 200mm thick.

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 Long Chains Combe North stone setting survives well and will retain
archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the development and use
of the monument.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Quinnell, N V, Dunn, C J, Lithic Monuments within the Exmoor National Park: A New Survey, (1992), 42

Source: Historic England