The Territory

The Institution’s primary operating territory is the British Isles, with particular focus on the upland areas of northern England and Scotland. The Eden Valley in Cumbria is the site of the Institution’s founding survey and remains of active operational interest.

The Institution also maintains monitoring stations in the North Atlantic, both polar regions, and in low Earth orbit. The full extent of the monitoring network is not published.

Eden Valley

The valley of the River Eden, running north through Cumbria from the limestone uplands to the Solway Firth, was identified by the founding surveyors as a site of exceptional significance. Seven alignment points were identified in the weeks preceding the formal chartering in 1706. The nature of the alignment is documented in the Archive from the Third Degree upward.

Station 7 — the seventh alignment point identified in the 1706 survey — has not been publicly documented since 1885. The Institution continues to monitor it. The most recent survey entry records: Present.

Long Meg and Her Daughters

The stone circle known as Long Meg and Her Daughters stands approximately 6 miles north of Penrith. It is the third-largest stone circle in England. The Institution has monitored it since before the Institution existed under its current name.

The 1894 survey conducted by W. Rawlinson produced a count of 1,706 measurable units between the outlying stone and the centre of the circle using the Appleby Measure. Rawlinson’s field notes end mid-sentence at this point. He returned to the site once more, in 1897, and wrote two words. The Archive holds both documents. The two words are available from the Third Degree.