Friday , March 29 2024
Home / Dartmoor Places (page 18)

Dartmoor Places

Hoax Tor

‘The Man With No Name’  – this definitely puts me in the ‘old fart’ bracket with memories of the cigar chomping Clint Eastwood and his exploits which incidentally seem pretty tame by today’s standards. But what about ‘The Tor With No Name‘? Big deal, there are hundreds of unnamed tors …

Read More »

Hisley Wood

Hisley Wood

‘The breeze was oozing through the network of boughs as through a strainer; the trunks and larger branches stood against the light of the sky in the forms of sentinels, giant candelabra, pikes, halberds, lances, and whatever else the fancy chose to make of them.’ Thomas Hardy – The Woodlanders. …

Read More »

High Willhays

High Willhays

It would be remiss not to include ‘The Roof of Devon’ in the folklore and legends section of Dartmoor. Whilst there is no tale or story to tell it surely goes down in Dartmoor’s geographical ‘spectaculars’. The Roof of Devon stands at an altitude of 621 metres which makes it …

Read More »

Heath Stone

Heath Stone

Just beside the road that leads into Fernworthy Plantation stands a lone inconspicuous stone called ‘The Heathstone’. This large boulder bears a modern description that detracts from its undoubted antiquity and one might postulate it is another example of a Christianised pagan stone. The stone is mentioned in both the …

Read More »

Hare Tor

Hare Tor

“So we ascend Hare Tor, of shape more conical than most of the Dartmoor heights. I have remarked that on the western side the outline bears a strong resemblance to the animal in its couchant form, which probably accounts for its name. I have heard it suggested that this tor …

Read More »

Hangingstone Hill

Hangingstone Hill

HANGINGSTONE HILL – if you are expecting grizzly tales of miscreants jiggling around on the end of a rope then please accept my apologies for there are none. Granted there is a large stone near the summit and it is this from whence the hill takes its modern name. As …

Read More »

Hangingstone, The

Hangingstone, The

Many years ago there was a time when it was almost impossible to earn enough money to put food on the family table. In the long cold winter months it was even harder as there were no fruits, berries or nuts in the hedgerows. Is it therefore surprising that when …

Read More »

Halstock Chapel

Halstock Chapel

In the Perambulation of 1240 the following directions appear: ‘et inde linealiter usque ad vadum proximum in orientali parte capelle Sancti Michaelis … and thence in line to the next ford east of the chapel of St. Michael of Halgestoke.’ This is the first documented evidence of a chapel at …

Read More »

Gudula’s Well

Gudula's Well

On the edge of the old Stannary town of Ashburton is an small sacred well. On my last visit it looked like an insignificant weed-choked gutter but for centuries it has been a place of pilgrimage. Sited by the old Totnes road, the tiny well is said to have curative …

Read More »

Green Placenames

Green Placenames

I promise this is the last of the ‘colourful’ pages and concerns the colour ‘green’ and the phrase,; “green and pleasant land” couldn’t be a more apt description of parts of Dartmoor. The actual word ‘green’ derives from the Anglo Saxon word grëne which translates as growing or living, Clark …

Read More »