TORS OF DARTMOOR

Hunt Tor

Hunters Tor, Woodcock Hill

This neat rockpile has received comparatively little recognition in the literature. Indeed it is quite difficult to find anything of significance to report despite its inclusion on late 19th-Century Ordnance Survey (OS) maps of the moor and in that respect it is very much a poor relation of the Dartmoor story. Set on a route between Kitty Tor and Gren Tor, Hunt Tor is located on a lower southern spur of Woodcock Hill, and consists of a modest outcrop of granite but it does have great views of Great Links Tor to the south-west. A track runs up south-eastward from Gren Tor to enable ease of access and there is a grassy avenue between the main rocks, but it is a much smaller version of this phenomenon than is normally encountered at other venues on the moorland landscape. That said, the aforementioned OS map shows a considerable outcrop here.

Hemery (1983), whilst introducing the other version of the name 'Hunters', gives a fair account: "...Hunters Tor (1,846 feet), rising from the higher west side of the basin. A much weathered rock-ridge of one main and several small exposures, it shows marked horizontal jointing and diagonal partings." This is perhaps the best version of a description that we have for the tor.

Earlier commentators such as Samuel Rowe from 1848 gave a scant reference to the rockpile as simply lying, "Above the buildings of the Rattlebrook Peat Works on Bridestowe and Sourton Common." William Crossing from 1912 gives three citations of the tor in Guide to Dartmoor (pages 60, 181 and 183), but there is nothing more exciting than this from the author: "The track will take us close to Hunt Tor, immediately after passing which we cross the higher part of the mire at Rattle Brook Head." No description of the rocks is forthcoming.

Writing over a 100 years later Ken Ringwood's contribution from 2013 in Dartmoor's Tors and Rocks is slightly more illuminative where he states: ''There are three or four low granite outcrops on the spur of Woodcock Hill, with the highest being the smallest. There is very little clitter. There is an old packhorse track running through the tor and a disused railway track nearby to the W and S. Rattle Brook to the E."

In its favour there is a striking overhanging logan stone at Hunt Tor which, according to Hemery, is unrecorded. This specimen is a flat-capped example that is perched precariously on an outcrop and it still rocks, quite unlike most other logan stones in the Dartmoor landscape.

Hunt 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 5569 8750
Height:	560m
Parish:	Lands common to the Parishes of Bridestowe and Sourton
Tor Classification:	Small
Access:	Public
Rock Type:	Granite
Credit:	Ordnance Survey
Reference / Further Reading:	Crossing, W. (1912): Guide to Dartmoor Hemery, E. (1983): High Dartmoor - Land and People Ordnance Survey Maps Ringwood, K. (2013): Dartmoor's Tors and Rocks Rowe, S. (1848): A Perambulation of Dartmoor