TORS OF DARTMOOR
a database of both lesser- & well-known rocks and outcrops
BroadstoneThe Broad Stones, Broada Stones, Brad Stones
 Marked by this name on modern Ordnance Survey maps close to the foot of Simon's Lake where it empties into the River Dart low down and to the southwest of Mel Tor, Broadstone is a spectacular platform of flat granite boulders that extend into the very heart of the river. Over time they have been smoothed by the constant flow of water and several rock basins have now formed on the upper surface of the stones. This popular and picturesque place is nonetheless steeped in Dartmoor legend as the origin of the so called 'Cry of the Dart', an unusual sound that is thought to be created by the wind rushing through the valley.  Ruth Manning Sanders (1951) describes Broadstone as 'those boulders that are said to 'cry' when foul weather is coming'. However, it seems that William Crossing (1912) was the first to espouse this theory in his Guide to Dartmoor on page 458 where he states: 'Opposite to the extremity of the promontory [Bench Tor] Simon's Lake falls into the river, and here are the boulders known as the Broad Stones. To "heer the cry o' the Brad Stones" is a sign of coming foul weather.' They are also linked most notably to the legend of Jan Coo of Rowbrook who is said to have disappeared after following what he thought was the call of his name to the river below.  However there is much more mystery attached to these curious rocks. Hemery (1983 p594) attempts to explain the phenomenon stating: 'As the river by-passes Broada Stones, it is confined in a small canyon, and when a wind blows through the gorge, it produces a strange, high-pitched sound amplified by the great natural sound-chamber.' Other authors in the past such as Lady Rosalind Northcote (LRN 1908), Beatrice Chase (BC 1928) and Nancy Van Der Kiste (NVDK 1990) have linked this 'cry' to various legends associated with the well known Devonian rhyming couplet of 'River of Dart! O River of Dart! Every year thou claimest a heart.' One of the first citations of this rather worrying rhyme is used at the start of a poem by Edward James Mortimer Collins in 1865 entitled 'River of Dart'.  Despite all of this Broadstone is nonetheless a grand place to visit. It offers a superb tranquility at the foot of Simon's Lake. Not only is it steeped in Dartmoor folklore but there is a strange kind of eeriness in the gorge that has been reflected in the multiple accounts of this special location ever since William Crossing's in the early 19th Century. Best approached from the direction of Luckey Tor to the west you will not be disappointed.
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