TORS OF DARTMOOR
a database of both lesser- & well-known rocks and outcrops
Duel RockCub Tor, Minor Tor
 The elusive Duel Rock also known as Cub Tor and Minor Tor, the place where William Crossing describes the legend of Roody the Smuggler. The third photo is courtesy of Sylvia Coates and the last is of a small outcrop above and to the north-west of the tor.  William Crossing tells little of the tor itself, even fails to name it. But in 'Gems in a Granite Setting' he does place it close to a curious cut hexagonal stone known as the 'threepenny bit' on the private road that goes between Hecklake and Vixen Tor Cottage; "Near by, on the opposite side of the road, is a tor, which though its size may not render it striking, is nevertheless so well placed as to add in no small degree to the picturesqueness of the spot. It was here that one Roody, who was in league with a band of smugglers, decapitated a sheep with a billhook, when leaping from the rocks to escape from his pursuers."  The name of Duel Rock is introduced by Sylvia Coates in her letter to Tim Jenkinson of December 1998 but she also calls it Cub Tor and Minor Tor. There is no mention of where Duel originates from. It could be something to do with the smuggling tale. However, the name 'Duel Rock' seems to have been known in the 1940s when landowners the Lee family lived in the area. Sylvia also told Tim about a cavern within the rocks which could hide a person hence the tale of Roody is given some credence. 
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
