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Established 1985 www.dartmoormagazine.co.uk

Issue 115 Summer 2014 £3.25

9770268502028

06

RYDER’S RINGS • HALLWOOD FARM SHOP A VISIT TO WILDSIDE MOORLAND GARDEN HOTEL

MOOR PURSUITS NICK BAKER & JOHN WALTERS LEGENDS OF LA WALLEN AND LIDWELL CHAPELS

Holiday fun in Buckfastleigh

BURRATORHISTORY & HERITAGE Walks Fur Tor

The Walkham Valley, GrenofenSouth Brent

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People, places and pursuits

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People, places and pursuits

The Dartmoor Magazine is produced by Blackingstone Publishing of Moretonhampstead and is a quarterly publication, published at the start of March, June, September and December. The magazine originated in 1985, and has for thirty years shared information on all aspects of life on Dartmoor with all those who know and love the area. In the last eighteen months subscription levels have risen substantially and our print run has increased considerably to meet demand. We now hold a solid position in Devon’s local publishing industry.

41DARTMOOR40 DARTMOOR

DARTMOOR DISCOVEREDHound Tor CombeWORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS TIM JENKINSON

This article and the next two in the ‘Dartmoor Discovered’ series have been inspired by the

accounts of William Crossing in his book Gems in a Granite Setting that was first published in 1905 and reprinted for a new generation in 1986. This particular excursion takes in part of the eastern slopes of the precipitous Hound Tor Combe that occupies most of National Grid Square SX 7578. Despite the many fascinating tors and rocks that are to be enjoyed in this area the Combe itself is rather underrepresented on popular maps with relatively few features shown.

The walk begins at the small car park leading on to Hay(Hey)tor Down at SX 771778 just off the minor road to Manaton that comes up from the B3387 at Hay(Hey)tor Vale. Proceeding northwestward from the car park along a broad path for about three quarters of a mile we reach the grand rock pile that is now known as Smallacombe Rocks

(SX 756782) and is marked as such by the Ordnance Survey (OS). However, in Gems Crossing explains (p80) that ‘This pile has sometimes been called Grea Tor, but we believe wrongly so. Grea Tor is situated on the other side of the valley, but being often spoken of as Grea Tor Rocks the existence of a second pile bearing the name has been supposed. Hence the mistake.’ Despite this the mix-up in locations seems to have existed for some time thereafter and is replicated as late as 1973 in the caption of a photograph on p74 of a book entitled Dartmoor by Roy J. Westlake.

Smallacombe Rocks, a tor by any other name, is one of south Dartmoor’s finest rock groups consisting of a grand sprawl of granite masses extending downhill to the west. On a clear day the view from the summit across the valley towards the dark crags of Great Hound Tor is breathtaking. A fine hut circle can be seen just off the summit rocks. Taking a northern

route from here along the valley side we soon come to the lowly pile that is known as Hole Rock (SX 757785), most notable for its boundary stone on the west side of the main outcrop that is inscribed with an ‘HS’ (Hole Stone), and near to this there is a discarded millstone.

From here looking north we see the next pile in sequence that has acquired the name of Leighon Tor (SX 758787) and is described as such in Gems and linked no doubt to one of the largest

View from Smallacombe Rocks

Hole Stone

OUT AND ABOUT

estates on south Dartmoor away to the northwest, which at one time covered around 1500 acres of land. I included a description of this fine tor in the third batch of ‘Lesser Known Tor’ descriptions in the autumn 1996 edition of Dartmoor Magazine (p28) and have slightly amended the grid reference in light of recent assessment. As I described at the time the tor is indeed a significant landmark, its core remnant split to reveal shelves of granite in the main outcrop beneath which a large clitter sprawls. Despite Crossing’s and later Eric Hemery’s (1983) accounts of this area, the tor has still not yet found its way on to OS maps.

From here we now need to make a detour downhill of some 400m or so to the north to a much larger granite mass that has broken into four separate groups of rock on the lower slopes of Black Hill above Leighon Farm. For those interested in a truly lesser-known tor then this is a must see. Stretching for some 200m from summit (SX 759790) to foot (SX 757791) I first reported on this area in DM in 2000 as part of an article on ‘Nameless Rock Piles’, and because of its size speculated at the time the possible name of Lower Leighon Tor or Leighon Rocks. Interestingly the former name has now found its way into a recent book on Dartmoor Tors by Ken Ringwood.

The ruined tor is immense, particularly its middle and lower sections which contain several gigantic boulders amid sprawling holly trees, leading me to believe that this is indeed the place Crossing (1912 p328) alludes to in his Guide, where the Reverend Prebendary Wolfe, who bought the

Leighon estate in 1855, once saw as many as thirteen buzzards settle in the rocks and also spoke of ravens breeding here. The Reverend (who was for a short time president of Torbay Hospital in the early 1900s) was accredited with introducing the trout ponds at the manor. In addition Crossing states that a golden eagle was once seen in the area by two ramblers in May 1891. Stood among the giant rocks here, it is easy to imagine and concur with the author’s account. Disappointingly there is no representation of these fine rocks on OS maps.

Leaving the tor one now needs a good constitution and stamina to climb the slopes and head southeastwards, eventually to reach the small compact outcrop at SX 760786 that I have always known as Black Hill Rocks set some 200m southeast of Leighon Tor (but not visible from there). I have been unable to find any reference to the pile in the literature, but given its proximity to the tor some suggest it is perhaps an outlier of the main pile. Personally I think it warrants a separate identity given its prominence on the hillside here when seen from the direction of Smallacombe Rocks.

Taking a final opportunity to enjoy the rugged scenery before departing, the southeasterly route back to the starting point allows for the inspection of at least two of the Duke of Somerset’s boundary stones, one inscribed ‘Victoria’ (SX 766783), the other ‘Old Jack’ (SX 769781), and both dated ‘DS 1853’.

Hound Tor Combe is a fascinating place to visit. Starting at Smallacombe

Rocks the various tors on the far eastern slopes and other features of interest including boundary stones and hut circles are worthy of a day’s excursion alone. I never tire of walking and exploring this part of Dartmoor. ■

References

Crossing, W. (1905) Gems in a

Granite Setting Devon Books

reprinted 1986

Crossing, W. (1912) Guide to

Dartmoor Peninsula Press Newton

Abbot reprinted 1993

Hemery, E. (1983) High Dartmoor:

Land and People Robert Hale London

Jenkinson, T. (1996) Lesser Known

Tors of Dartmoor: Part 3 Dartmoor

Magazine No 44 Autumn

Jenkinson, T. (2000) Nameless Rock

Piles: Field Notes and Photographs

Dartmoor Magazine No 58 Spring

Westlake, R. (1973) Dartmoor

Bradford Barton Truro

Black Hill Rocks

Leighon TorLeft to right Lower Leighon Tor (spreading rocks on left), Leighon Tor (central pile to right), Black Hill Rock (small bump on hilltop immediately above)

Lower Leighon Tor

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