The Longstone is a megalithic monument near the village of Mottistone, close to the south west coast of the Isle of Wight. It is the only megalithic monument on the Island.
The Longstone consists of two pieces of local greensand sandstone probably from a vein 100 metres away. The larger stands at 3.9 metres 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 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.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.