TORS OF DARTMOOR

a database of both lesser- & well-known rocks and outcrops

Home Search Map The East Access About Team Social Blog

Standon Hill

Standon Down, Stanon Hill

Rising up from the western foothills of Dartmoor is Standon Hill, a large domed hill that has a considerable amount of clitter strewn about the slopes that makes for difficult progress from the south-west flank. The summit is rather flat and grassy with two military range huts standing amid a modest ruined tor that is composed of low granite outcrops just off the top of the hill.

There are two main masses that are both broken by reeds that have taken refuge on this exposed hill, but it is the highest that has a ring cairn embedded into the outcrop. With clitter in between, these outcrops are easy to overlook but the rock-field below is suggestive of a once grand tor that today has been mangled into loose boulders and scree.

In fact, it is this characteristic that has given the hill its name, for 'stennen' and 'stannon' mean 'stony'. Eric Hemery goes on; "A curious feature - though I believe it is entirely natural - appears north of the rocks, where an exact alignment, or 'row' of four boulders, each resting on bedrock, ascends eastward from the brow of the hill." Despite the poor tor here, there are some impressive outlooks including, to the south, the steep north face of Bagga Tor which reveals itself to be a dramatic cliff spilling into the enclosures above Baggator Farm. Northward, the North Moor stretches beyond to the prominent bosses of Hare Tor and Great Links Tor on the western escarpment.

icon
icon
Standon Hill
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 555 814
Height:
485m
Parish:
Peter Tavy
Tor Classification:
Summit
Access:
Public
Rock Type:
Granite
Credit:
Ordnance Survey
Reference / Further Reading:
Ordnance Survey Maps
Eric Hemery (1983): High Dartmoor

Please Support Us

We are proud to see the names of lesser-known tors are now being used more commonly on other websites and whilst this is to be encouraged we do request that, should you wish to use the information on this page, you provide a backlink to the website as reference, by copying the relevant address:

https://www.torsofdartmoor.co.uk/tor-page.php?tor=standon-hill

Please also consider a small donation to the upkeep of the site; any contribution goes toward the fees to keep the database online and any costs incurred when undertaking research such as subscriptions to online archives.