The exact location of this rockpile is one of Dartmoor's most enduring conundrums. To this day there is no clarification on its whereabouts even though William Crossing mentions the tor as part of the non granite Sourton range as long ago as 1912. Describing his route from the west, he says: "Climbing the slight ascent to the Sourton Tors we shall find ourselves among the scattered rock clusters covering the greater part of the hill. The principle pile, at the N.W. of the groups, is known as East Tor, that being its relative situation to the village of Sourton." It all sounds very plausible until you visit the slopes and discover that there is no north western pile.
Some 80 years later Terry Bound (1991) describes the name as a 'misnomer' as he states that the tor lies on the north west edge of the moor but then goes on to suggest that it is the most southern pile of the group at SX 539 897. Mike Brown (1995) gives another version of the site putting the tor at SX 541 899. To complicate matters further the name of East Tor is depicted as a dwelling on modern Ordnance Survey Maps but to the south of the village at SX 535 899.
Writing in 1998 Tim Jenkinson included it in his 'Lost Tors of Dartmoor' article in Dartmoor Magazine where, after attempting to explain the puzzling accounts in the literature, he concludes: "However, when one is faced with such contradictory and conflicting evidence as to the location of a tor, it is perhaps unwise to show any allegiance to a particular view and better to accept that the tor, over time, has somehow become 'lost' in the midst of the sprawling piles of the Sourton range."
Returning to the problem in 2002 the author writes: "Wherever it is East Tor is both a lesser known and poorly defined entity, the victim of imprecise and unnecessary speculation, it resides somewhere within the sprawling tors of Sourton. Fortunately the visitor to the area is complemented by the spectacular views across Deep Valley towards Lake Viaduct. Unsurpassed on the moor it simply takes the breath away."
End of the matter perhaps? Certainly not, resurfacing once more in a book about Dartmoor Tors by Ken Ringwood in 2013 East Tor is not only given a precise grid reference of SX 5399 8971 but is described as: "The second most southerly outcrop around Sourton Tors. One outcrop on the hillside, overlooking to the W over a steep slope. Very angular, not granite but with clitter. Overlooking a wall and the village of Sourton to the W, with extensive views over Cornwall to the W." This is yet another interpretation but one that is better aligned to Terry Bound's assessment of the area.
Quite why the tor is singled out from the rest of the outcrops of Sourton by Crossing all those years ago is not immediately clear, but the vagueness of his account has led to much discussion as to its exact whereabouts. Despite this muddle of thoughts, the area is still very good for exploration and the menacing dark crags of the main tor are well worth a visit, appearing as quite formidable when approaching from the village to the west in either mist or fog, where they soon loom upwards from the turf.
Please note that the photographs included here show one of the possible sites for the tor, and although often considered a contender for East Tor they do not confirm the site but merely indicate a rockpile of interest on the south west slope. Perhaps it would be best to climb the hillside yourself to look around and reach your own conclusion.
East Tor
The map above is not a navigation tool and we recommend that the grid reference shown below is used in conjunction with an Ordnance Survey map and that training in its use with a compass is advised.
Grid Ref:
SX 5399 8971
Height:
405m
Parish:
Sourton
Tor Classification:
Valley Side
Access:
Public
Rock Type:
Metamorphic
Credit:
William Crossing
Reference / Further Reading:
Bound, T. (1991): The A to Z of Dartmoor Tors Crossing, W. (1912): Guide to Dartmoor Jenkinson, T. (1998): Dartmoor Magazine, Issue 53, Winter: Investigating the Lost Tors of Dartmoor Jenkinson, T. (2002): The Lesser Known Tors of Dartmoor (unpublished manuscript) Ringwood, K. (2013): Dartmoor's Tors and Rocks Ordnance Survey Maps
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