Details

The monument includes six standing stones and the archaeologically sensitive
area between and around them. The site is located on the south west facing
slopes of the north western spur of Swap Hill 275m south east of the Long
Combe sheep pen. The stone setting occupies a kite-shaped area 21.5m long by
10m wide which extends for 0.01ha. The two largest stones form the longer,
east-west axis and are both 900mm high, 600mm wide and 200mm thick. The stone
at the west end of this line has two low stones at its north east end. The two
smaller stones which mark the shorter north-south axis are both 300mm in
height and width and 100mm 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 importance of the Swap Hill stone setting is increased by the proximity of
two other lithic monuments in the immediate area. The monument survives well
and will retain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the
development and use 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), 46

Source: Historic England