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Longstone is a prehistoric standing stone located in Newry and Mourne, Northern Ireland. This upright monolith survives as evidence of ritual or territorial practice during the Neolithic or Bronze Age, when such stones were erected across the landscape of Ireland and Britain. The monument stands rooted in bedrock of the Hawick Group, a Silurian-age wacke formation that provided the geological foundation for human settlement and activity in this region.
The standing stone's precise original function remains unknowable, though such monuments commonly served as boundary markers, ritual foci or commemorative features within prehistoric communities. The character of the surrounding bedrock—resistant wacke rather than easily worked sediment—suggests that the erection of Longstone represented a significant communal effort, as the stone would have required careful selection and substantial labour to raise upright.
Longstone is protected as a scheduled monument under the Historic Environment Division of Northern Ireland, with reference 9087. This designation ensures its preservation for future study and public understanding of prehistoric settlement patterns in the Newry and Mourne district and the wider Irish landscape.
Longstone, the longstone. standing stone is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 9087. View the official record →
Longstone is a prehistoric standing stone located in Newry and Mourne, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 9087.
Longstone, the longstone. standing stone dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a standing stone. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Longstone, the longstone. standing stone is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 9087.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Kilmeloge. church site & enclosure (1.9 km), The crawtree stone. portal tomb (6.8 km), Kilkeel, st. colman del mourne. rath, reused as medieval church & graveyard (7.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Longstone, the longstone. standing stone's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Longstone, the longstone. standing stone stands on Hawick Group, bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is wacke.