Hound Tor

Hound Tor stands on Dartmoor in Devon, a granite outcrop shaped by centuries of wind and rain. It lies close to the B3387 road between Bovey Tracey and Widecombe-in-the-Moor, easy to reach from the main route. The site belongs to Dartmoor National Park Authority but is managed for English Heritage. Nearby are the ruins of a medieval village and older stone structures from prehistoric times. The medieval village, called Hundatorra, was built on land first farmed in the Bronze Age and later used for grazing in the Roman period. Excavations between 1961 and 1975 uncovered four longhouses with drainage channels and smaller buildings. These date from the 13th century, though grain barns were later changed into corn dryers as the climate worsened. Farming stopped by 1350, but pottery suggests people stayed until the late 14th or early 15th century. The Domesday Book records the village as belonging to Tavistock Abbey. Visitors climb the tor to see wide views across the moor and the outlines of medieval fields below. The fields are marked by granite walls and ditches known as corn ditches. Nearby are prehistoric hut circles and a Bronze Age farmstead 400 metres to the north-west. Rock climbers often use the tor’s granite slabs, and film crews have used it as a backdrop for Doctor Who and Sherlock. Local legend says the tor was once a pack of hounds turned to stone, adding to its striking shape.