Office of Land Operations

The Office of Land Operations, designated TERRESTRIAL, is the oldest of the six offices, predating the formal establishment of the others. Its origins are coterminous with the Institution itself: the founding survey of 1706 was conducted under what would later be called terrestrial operations.

TERRESTRIAL currently maintains 23 active monitoring sites across the British Isles, with additional liaison arrangements at internationally significant sites. Of the 23 UK sites, 19 are in the public record. The remaining four are withheld on operational grounds.

Eden Valley

The Eden Valley survey programme has operated continuously since 1706. The seven alignment points identified in the founding survey remain the primary focus of TERRESTRIAL’s UK operations. Six of the seven are actively monitored. Station 7 — the seventh alignment point — has been monitored under a restricted protocol since 1885. The protocol is available at the Second Degree. What prompted the change in protocol in 1885 is a Third Degree matter.

Long Meg

The stone circle known as Long Meg and Her Daughters is a TERRESTRIAL priority site. The Institution has maintained a monitoring record at Long Meg since before the Institution existed under its current name. The pre-1706 records were incorporated into the founding archive and are among the documents assessed as already old at the time of the Institution’s chartering.