Tag Archives: Dartmoor

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 …

The ‘Queen of the Moor’ is a majestic tor high in the wastes of the northern fen where she rules over all she surveys. The ‘Queen of the Moor’ is commonly know as Fur tor and comprises of several outcrops. Many will argue that this is the remotest tor on …

There are numerous mires and bogs on Dartmoor, several of them can be treacherous places to wander into but of them all Fox Tor Mires is (undeservedly) the most notorious. It has been said that the mires are twenty feet deep and have sucked many a man and beast down …

Before the Dartmoor hills you leave, – Come taste the ale of Richard Cleave, Or if your spirits you would cheer, – Then try the spirits he sells here, – If hungry there is Dartmoor fare, – The sauce shall be the Dartmoor air, – And if fatigued and seeking …

One of the perils of walking across the moor at night is possibility of meeting with the pixies or as the moorfolk call them ‘piskies’. There are numerous stories of unfortunate people that have met them and become ‘piskie led‘. This is where the mischievous piskies envelop the traveller in …

Just outside of Princetown there is what looks like a small circular enclosure, this is Fice’s Well. If legend is to be believed it has stood here for 437 years and the spring was the source of salvation for John Fitz. One day he and his wife were riding on …

Lost amidst a huge coniferous forest is a small insignificant hill that is now called ‘Ephraim’s Pinch’. Many people see this name marked on the Ordnance Survey map and wonder what it refers to. It actually relates to a sad story about a local man called ‘Ephraim’. He was a …

‘The frantic seer Here built his sacred circle ; for he loved To worship on the mountain’s breast sublime— The earth his altar, and the bending heav’n His canopy magnificent. The rocks That crest the grove-crown’d hill he scooped to hold The Lustral Waters ; and to wondering crowds And …

A labourer from the little village of Harford had heard some old ladies saying that anyone who went to Duck’s Pool and remained there until after midnight without getting piskie led would be rewarded by the faeries. So being stony broke the man decided that he would risk the wrath …

Having received several emails regarding Beatrice Chases‘ mythical Dream Tor it may be an idea to try and search for the evidence for it. I must confess not having much interest in the author I never really bothered with where or what it supposedly was. In fact although I have …