Legendary Dartmoor The many aspects past and present of Dartmoor
Somebody recently wrote and asked how many place-names on Dartmoor are named after or associated with birds. Having trawled through the database the following list was arrived at, there are more but in cases where there are several examples of a name, ie Eagle Rock, just one entry has been included. The same goes with place-names that that have a prefix of Higher, Lower, Great, Little or such similar descriptives. Without question there are numerous other bird place-names which are not included in my database or have simply been forgotten, if you know of any more please let me know and I can add it to this list.
| Name | OS Grid Ref. | Description |
| Buzzard’s View | SX ???? ???? | Somewhere above Canonteign House |
| Chaw Gully | SX 6880 8091 | A mining gully |
| Cocks Tor | SX 3510 7620 | A natural granite outcrop |
| Crane Lake | SX 6051 6852 | A stream in Hooper’s Gully |
| Crow Tor | SX 6070 7871 | A natural granite outcrop |
| Cuckoo Rock | SX 6383 6014 | A natural granite outcrop |
| Drossell Stone | SX 7733 7264 | A boundstone on the Buckland bounds, dialect word for a thrush |
| Drakeford Bridge | SX 7895 8012 | A packhorse bridge over the River Bovey |
| Ducks Pool | SX 6240 6791 | A boggy tract of drained moorland |
| Eagle Rock | SX 6186 8871 | A natural granite outcrop |
| Fieldfare Head | SX 6592 6964 | An alternative name for Filfer Head boundstone |
| Goose Pool | SX 6830 7280 | A boggy tract south-west of Sharp Tor |
| Hawks Hollow | SX 5613 8932 | An area of tin mining pits |
| Hawks Tor | SX 5522 6252 | A natural granite outcrop |
| Hen Tor | SX 5933 6530 | A natural granite outcrop |
| Hen’s Burrow | SX 7356 7352 | A Bronze Age cairn and a point on the Buckland bounds |
| Hensroost Gully | SX 6543 7020 | An old tin mining gully |
| Heronry, The | SX 6561 7702 | A site where herons once nested |
| Jay’s Grave | SX 7322 7991 | A suicides grave |
| Kestrel | SX 6932 7171 | A rock climb on Bench Tor |
| Lake of Cranes | SX 6030 8580 | An alternative name for Cranmere Pool |
| Larkham Wood | SX 7035 6571 | A natural woodland |
| Little Rooster Rock | SX 6771 6712 | A natural granite outcrop |
| Magpie Bridge | SX 5040 7036 | A Bridge across the river Walkham |
| Owley Bridge | SX 6773 5995 | A bridge across the Glaze Brook |
| Peregrine Fur Farm | SX 7710 8930 | A one-time fur farm |
| Raven Tor | SX 7470 7561 | A natural granite outcrop |
| Rock of Doves | SX 5388 6380 | An alternative name for the Dewerstone, a natural granite outcrop |
| Rook Tor | SX 6026 6183 | A natural granite outcrop |
| Rookery Brook | SX 8165 8604 | A natural watercourse |
| Sanduck Cross | SX 7663 8354 | A wayside cross |
| Swallow Ford | SX 5469 7442 | A fording place on the River Walkham |
| Swanaford | SX 8210 8841 | A residence named after a nearby ford |
| Thrushelcombe | SX 5900 6712 | A shallow combe |
| Wild Goose | SX 6764 7650 | A residence |
| Woodcock Hill | SX 5561 8762 | A natural eminence |
It may seem an obvious question but why where these places named after birds? Common sense would dictate that these were places where the bird named in the place-name tended to be found. By and large this is the case but there are a few exceptions, for example Crow Tor is so called because its shape is supposed to resemble that of a sitting crow. The original name of Hen Tor was Hyndetorr or ‘Hinds Tor’, Sanduck is a classic example as originally it would have been Sandhulke, the word hulke deriving from the Old English word holc which means ‘a hollow’ thus giving a ‘sandy hollow’.
On the other hand names which could well appear as poetic license such as Owley Bridge turn out to be perfectly suited to the bird theme as the original place-name was Hululeg which translates as ‘Owl Wood’.
