Cut Hill

Cut Hill stands on North Dartmoor in Devon, rising 603 metres to share the rank of third highest peak in the moorland. It lies inside the military training area and is usually closed to walkers, though open at set times. The nearest village is Postbridge, from which the hill takes an hour and a half of steady walking to reach. The summit offers some of Dartmoor’s finest panoramic views across miles of wet bog and tussock grass. Peat hags scar the ground around the top, showing where peat has been cut and eroded. The name Cut Hill comes from Cut Lane, an old drover’s track that once sliced through the fen between the Dart and Tavy valleys. In 2004 archaeologists found a stone row dating to 3,500 BC, the first sign of prehistoric activity on this stretch of moor. Nine granite slabs stand in a straight line pointing northeast to southwest, like the axis at Stonehenge. Dr Tom Greeves called the discovery “of worldwide significance” for understanding early settlement patterns. Visitors who gain access find the stone row on the open moor just below the summit. The nine upright stones stand roughly half a metre high, spaced evenly along a low ridge. From the row the ground falls away into wide valleys and scattered tors. The air carries the scent of heather and the calls of curlews and skylarks. On clear days the view stretches to the highest points of Dartmoor and beyond.