Long regarded as an area of mystery and legend, Dartmoor holds a particular place the English national psyche. It features the richest examples of prehistoric remains in the United Kingdom, with some discoveries dating back to the late Neolithic and early Bronze ages - roughly around 3500BC.
Covering approximately 358 square miles, the landscape is rugged and bleakly beautiful, dotted with dramatic hilltop granite outcroppings known as Tors, the bedrock breaking through the ground.
Among the most famous of these is Hound Tor. It is frequently stated as one of the principal inspirations for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle while he was writing The Hound of the Baskervilles, tying with local legends of spectral packs of dogs, and even a great black hound. The name for the formation comes from the myth of a huntsman named Bowerman, who enraged a witch. Seeking revenge upon him she appeared as a hare, and when he gave chase with his hunting dogs transformed him into a pile of standing rocks known as Bowerman's Nose. His pack of hounds, in closer pursuit of the witch, were also turned to stone against the hillside - becoming Hound Tor.
This is just a small section of the Tor, it is too large to photograph it all from the ground.
I was standing on top of another section of the Tor looking down and across.
@dishaparekh176 Thank you for your interest Disha-it was a great walk and the views are fantastic even though it was a greyish day. It was quite windy standing up on the rocks and it was about 2.5 degrees!!!
@777margo Yes Dartmoor is a varied landscape of moorland, small farmland, fields & hedgerows but is dominated by the granite outcrops of the 'ten tors' which are the high points on Dartmoor.
