The first mention of the stone was in 1219, when it was described in a perambulation of the Royal Forest of Exmoor as the Langeston. In 1890 the letter N (which is reversed) was missing from the inscription, but by 1919 the missing piece had been found and was cemented back in place. In 1906 a shelter was erected over the stone, and an excavation in 1937 revealed that the stone was not associated with a burial site.