The Longstone is a
megalithic monument near the village of
Mottistone, close to the south west coast of the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
. It is the only megalithic monument on the Island.
Description and location
The Longstone consists of two pieces of local
greensand
Greensand or green sand is a sand or sandstone which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called ''glauconies'' and co ...
sandstone probably from a vein away. The larger stands at and the smaller lies at its foot. They are on the edge of a wood in small fenced enclosure just off Strawberry Lane, near Mottistone. The name Mottistone (the Speaker's or pleader's stone) almost certainly derives from the Longstone. The stones and the surrounding land are in the care of the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
and are open to the public.
Until the mid nineteenth century the smaller stone was further south but in 1856 a local landowner,
Lord Dillon, had it turned over to discover if it had a
mortise hole (it did not). Its present position has led to fanciful tales of its being a sacrificial altar stone and so, in common with many other megalithic monuments, modern pagan meetings and rituals are associated with it.
In October 2007 the larger stone was
vandalised by unknown person(s) who painted the white outline of a
Christian cross onto the side facing the smaller.
Associated long barrow
The stones are associated with a narrow mound long, which runs from them to the west. In September 1956, excavations by C.N. Hawkes appeared to confirm that this was the remains of a
long barrow
Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the fifth and fourth millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period. Typically constructed from earth and either timber or stone, those using the latter material repre ...
,
''The Longstone, Mottistone''
Jacquetta Hawkes Jacquetta is a feminine given name which may refer to:
* Jacquetta of Luxembourg (1415/16–1472), Duchess of Bedford, Countess Rivers
* Jacquetta Hawkes (1910–1996), English archaeologist and writer
* Jacquetta May, British writer, actress and ...
, Antiquity 31(123): 147-152, September, 1957. so that the stones may be the remains of an entrance. Long barrows in this part of England that are not on chalk or limestone are rare.
Dating
Although dating is difficult, pottery excavated in 1956 indicates that the mound (and therefore probably the stones also) are Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
.
Notes
External links
Long Stone (IOW)
Megalithic Portal
The Long Stone at Mottistone, National TrustThe Longstone, Historic England list entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Longstone, Mottistone
History of the Isle of Wight
Buildings and structures on the Isle of Wight
Archaeological sites on the Isle of Wight
Tourist attractions on the Isle of Wight
Megalithic monuments in England
Stone Age sites in England
National Trust properties on the Isle of Wight
Brighstone