TORS OF DARTMOOR
a database of both lesser- & well-known rocks and outcrops
Cattiscombe Rocks To the south-east of Ash Tor on the other side of the public footpath that links Linscott Cottages with the road to the north near Bowden Farm, there lies a rock field of granite boulders and an emergent outcrop set within a small combe that has been forged by an unnamed stream.  Of particular interest amongst the multitude of rocks is a fine rounded boulder, that appears 'marble-like' from below, but takes on differing contorted forms as you circle it. The largest outcrop found is a grand ruined rock pile, fern topped and some two and a half metres in height when stood at its base.  Having looked at the Tithe for the parish of Moretonhampstead we discovered the rocks are on a plot of land once known, according to Tithe, as 'Howton Grove'. But above the west side of the woodland, there was once a homestead called 'Cattiscombe', a name, like the farm, now lost. This certainly explains the origins of the footpath and the name may have originated from the combe below where the rocks reside. Early 19th Century editions of Ordnance Survey maps also include the farm (later spelt 'Cattescombe') which has been completely demolished and so the name of 'Cattiscombe Rocks' seems a suitable acknowledgment of the history of the area. 
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