Stone settings (Exmoor) facts for kids

Stone settings are ancient structures made from upright stones. You can find them in Exmoor, a large area of open land in south-western England. These stones are put together in different ways, sometimes in clear shapes like rectangles, and sometimes in patterns that look more random.

What Are Stone Settings?

Stone settings are a type of monument. A monument is something built to remember a person or event, or just to mark a place. For stone settings, the stones stand tall, like small pillars. They are arranged in groups, not just as single stones.

Where Can You Find Them?

Exmoor is a special place where many stone settings are found. They are actually the most common type of stone monument there. In 2001, experts had officially found 57 of these settings. It's thought that there were many more long ago.

Why Are Some Missing?

Over hundreds of years, people have often moved or taken these stones. They might have used them to build walls, create drains, or make gate posts. Sometimes, stones were removed just to clear a field for farming. Because of this, some single standing stones you see today might have once been part of a larger stone setting.

Unique Designs and Shapes

An archaeologist named Aubrey Burl said that the stone settings in Exmoor are "almost without parallel" in Britain and Ireland. This means they are very unusual and special compared to other stone structures found there.

Common Shapes

Even though many look random, some stone settings have clear shapes:

• Ten of the known settings are shaped like a rectangle.
• Four settings are called "quincunxes." A quincunx is a pattern of five things, with four at the corners and one in the middle, like the dots on a dice.
• Most of the other stone settings don't have a clear shape. This could be because they were designed that way, or because some stones have been taken away over time.