TORS OF DARTMOOR
a database of both lesser- & well-known rocks and outcrops
Raven's Tower Of curious name Raven's Tower is first mentioned in an early edition of Black's Guide to Devonshire dating to 1864, and again in 1879 where a visit to 'the lonesome valley of Lustleigh Cleave... and the ivy-shrouded rock called the Raven's Tower' is recommended. It gets another endorsement in the sixth edition of Murray's Handbook for Travellers in Devon and Cornwall from 1865 where the Cleave is described as 'romantic' and notably the 'ivy-mantled, and massive as a ruin of old... Raven's Tower.'  From these early descriptions we get an idea of there being something of note above the village of Lustleigh and so much was the fascination with the area that Francis Bedford (1815-1894) was inspired to photograph the Tower as seen here on the image above. Tom Greeves (2015) describes Bedford as 'undoubtedly the most important early landscape photographer in Devon. His significance lies not only in the large number of images which have survived, but in his remarkable artistic and technical skills of composition.'  However, it is not until at least 1892 when writing in the third edition of his book 'Dartmoor and its Antiquities with some accounts of its borders' that John Lloyd Warden Page offers some information on its actual location: 'The Raven's Tower, an ivy-mantled crag, rears its head from the ridge bearing no inapt resemblance to the ruins of some venerable fortress.' He goes on: 'There is, too, the crannied pile called Fox's Yard, owing its name to the harrier of adjacent henroosts who is said to frequent is fastnesses, while between these rock masses will be found two logan stones, the largest bearing the name of The Nutcrackers.' This indicates that the 'Tower' is somewhere atop of Lustleigh Cleave near to Sharpitor and probably not far from the ridge path although the site of Fox's Yard remains elusive to this day.  In recent years both Peter F. Mason and Tom Greeves have, using on the ground comparisons with Bedford's photographs, been able to establish that Raven's Tower is the tall crenelated rock stack some 30 metres or so to the south-east of the first viewpoint of the Cleave coming up from Hammerslake at SX 7713 8151. Here the thin pile now retains just a few straggling wisps of ivy that tumble from its crown, but it is seen at its best from below on the south side where its unusual shape is quite arresting and would have certainly formed a conspicuous landmark on the hillside before it became concealed by trees. The nearby viewpoint opens out upon a breathtaking scene to the south and west where Black Hill and Great Hound Tor dominate the horizon.
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