MSO6842 - Edgerley Stone, Bill Hill (Monument)

A boundary stone marking the county boundary between Devon and Somerset, and the former boundary of Exmoor Forest. It is a standing slab 1.5 metres high, of uncertain date, and was named 'Longstone' in a survey of 1651.

Edgeley Stone is marked at SS 7195 4070 on the 1st and 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey maps. [1,2] This boundary stone is called 'Longstone' in 1651 in a Survey of Exmoor Chase, but is given the name 'Edgerley Stone' on the 1675 Map of Exmoor [3], which shows it as somewhat crescent shaped and apparently recumbent. It now stands a fully five feet high in the fence on the north side of the Challacombe road and is one of the principal and best known of the boundary stones. In lawsuits of 1677-8 it is spelled 'Edgerley Stone' and 'Edgerlystone'. The Enclosure Award of 1815 marks it 'Edgerly Stone'. [3,4] The stone slab is not really dateable. It measures 1.7 metres high and 0.6 metres across, and was used as a county boundary stone. Published 1:2500 survey correct. [5,6] The stone defines many boundaries, including the Challacombe and High Bray Commons, the Exmoor-Challacombe parish boundary, the western boundary of the Forest of Exmoor, as well as the Somerset-Devon county boundary. [7,8,9,22] The stone may be a (prehistoric?) standing stone. [10] A large rough stone stands about 5 feet high in the northern bank of the road from Simonsbath to Challacombe (B3358). Until the enclosure of the Forest in 1819 or of Challacombe Common in 1857, it stood alone on the open moor, probably since Saxon times. The only inscriptions on the stone appear to be F. BRAY and F. ISAAC, which were probably the names of the men employed in making the modern fences. The site is undisturbed, 1.5 metres high and 0.45 metres wide. [11] The standing slab at SS 7195 4070 is of a rhomboidal section, 1.5 metres high, 0.8 metres wide and 0.35 metres thick. It is set against a hedgebank and serves as a parish and county boundary stone; it is not known if the stone has prehistoric origins. An Ordnance Survey Bench Mark is cut on the exposed southwest face with two names F.Issac and F.Bray incised, one above and one below it. It is in good condition. [12] SS 720 407. Edgerley Stone. Scheduled. (Listed under 'Burial Mounds and Megalithic Monuments'). [14] The stone measures 1.5 metres high, 0.8 metres wide, 0.35 metres thick. [16] The stone is at right angles to the county boundary. [17] SS 71954070. The Edgerley Stone is known to have been in its present position from at least 1207, when it marked the boundary of the Royal Forest of Exmoor. Scheduling of the monument was affirmed on 6th December 2002, with new national number (was previously Somerset 152). [18] SS71961 40700 Edgerley Stone, an ancient boundary stone serving as a marker for the Devon/Somerset County Boundary [9]; and the Forest of Exmoor Boundary [3]. A Scheduled Monument (Somerset No:152) [15], it is still in situ and in good condition as described by [12]. Surveyed at 1:2500. [19] In private ownership. [20] The Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment of 2009 gave the site a survival score of 3. [21] The site was surveyed in April 2015 as part of the 2015 Exmoor Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment. It was given a survival score of 3. [23] A boundary stone marking the county boundary between Devon and Somerset and the former boundary of Exmoor Forest. It is a thick standing slab measuring 1.4 x 0.64 x 0.28m, of uncertain date and was named “Longstone” in a survey of 1651. It is potentially prehistoric and has been surveyed for this reason. Traces of the names `F Isaac' and `F Bray' have been inscribed into the front of the stone, probably in antiquity as the formal lettering and weathered condition of the inscriptions suggest. Overall the stone is in a very good condition and there has been little change since the previous condition survey. It is only at a significant risk from vehicles on the B3358 and off-road vehicles accessing the gate on the stones eastern side. [24-25] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [26] The site is included in a 2023 Condition Survey [27]