The Longstone, Shovel Down

• Grid reference: SX 6603 8568
• Height: 3.2 m (10 ft 5 in, Pastscape) to 3.4 m depending on source
• Parish bounds: Chagford, Gidleigh and Lydford
• First recorded: 1240 Perambulation as the Langstone
• Scheduling: Part of the North Teign coaxial field system, list entry 1017874
• Rows: Ends of Shovel Down rows 5 and 6

The Longstone is a granite standing stone on the eastern slopes of Shovel Down, above Teigncombe near Chagford. Pastscape records it as 10 feet 5 inches high, about 3.2 m, though other sources give up to 3.4 m. It has a tapered, sharp top and a base measured at roughly 35 by 24 inches.

It is called the Langstone in the 1240 Perambulation, so it is older than that. It stands between Shovel Down rows 5 and 6 and forms the end of both, with a north to south avenue running to it. It also marks the point where the parishes of Chagford, Gidleigh and Lydford meet, and boundary marks are cut on three of its faces. Folklore links it to the beating of the bounds of Gidleigh Common, where the first man to reach it won a money prize.

It is part of the scheduled North Teign coaxial field system. It is a different stone from the Longstone at Piles Hill near South Brent, the Langstone on Langstone Moor, and the fallen stone on Longstone Hill by Meldon Reservoir.