Another view.

Hound Tor cairn and cist. described but not illustrated by Jeremy Butler, 199!, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities  Vol. 1 - The East, 6- Houndtor cairn and cist,  page 54 ..... the partial ring of kerb stones that retained the covering earth is quite impressive ....

Practical dousing .....

A dousing result - either from some form of energy to do with the cist or perhaps it is on a ley line.

The group, and what do they say about animals and children!

The cist, with Haytor Rocks 2.36 km (1.5 miles) distant .....

Zoomed view.

Dew pond at SX 74165 78608.

Looking back at Hound Tor.

Toadstool (not identified) .....

As previous photograph .....

Ditto.

Greator Rocks, SX 747 786, elevation 371 metres (1217 feet).

Zoomed view to Haytor Rocks.

At the "entrance" to Holwell Lawn .....

We take a small path running right.

Approaching the sheepfold at SX 74510 78213 ..... now converted for horse jumping .....

Another view .....

And a third view.

"Fences" for pony training ..... none of show-jumping height .....

Mind you, these logs are quite big .....

The lucky horseshoe. 

A very overgrown, abandoned cottage .....

Overgrown walls .....

Ivy flower .....

Ivy.

Ivy climbing over the house - it has been here awhile.

Gable end with a chimney breast .....

Looking for Santa?

Outside, an old laurel tree.

Looking west up at Chinkwell Tor, SX 729 782, elevation 456 meters (1496 feet).

Rippon Tor, SX 746 755, elevation 473 metres (1551 feet).

An enclosure marked near the path on the map but almost impossible approach, at SX 7458 7797 ......

The tumbled stones show very good feather and tare marks so it is post-1800 .....

Zoomed view.

Greator Rocks again, on the return leg of the walk.

Fox Moth caterpillar (July-October), about 8 cm / 3 inches in length. Heather, bramble, and bilberry are among its food plants. It will be fully grown by the autumn. It will then hibernate, to emerge next spring without feeding, pupate in March/April and be on the wing in May. Click here for a photo of an adult .....  

The reaction to being handled .....

Running away .

Greator Rocks .....

Weathering planes in the rock .....

Zppmed view.

Houndtor Medieval Village, longhouse, building no. 7 on the images below .....

Image © J Butler 1994. Reproduced by kind permission (ref. 29 Sept. 2012).

The village is described by Jeremy Butler, 199!, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities  Vol. 1 - The East, 7- Houndtor medieval village (fig. 8.3),  pages 54-56.

Google Earth image with J. Butler's labels from the figure above applied - note that north in Butler's figure lays at top right so there is some rotation of the site - we entered the village at the no. 2 symbol and walked past no. 7 and looked at ovens in no. 9 .....

Building no. 7 again .....

Building no. 7 ......

Building no. 7 .....

Either building no. 1 or no. 6, I forget .....

Looking across no. 7 .....

Drying ovens in building no. 9 - for drying corn as the climate cooled and became wetter - finally driving humans off the moor as a place to live by farming ....

Closer view of an oven.

Steps in the path to the village that were installed by Dartmoor Preservation Association.

Overview of the village.

A different view of Hound Tor .....

One of the rock piles .....

An example of an avenue tor, where the central area has eroded away - there is a bigger avenue left of the left rocks seen here.

The car park after the "recce" that was done on Sunday 26th October 2014, rather crowded on a dull day.

Walk details

MAP: Red = GPS satellite track of the walk.

© Crown copyright and database rights 2014.  Ordnance Survey Licence number 100047373
Use of this data is subject to terms and conditions.
Also, Copyright © 2005, Memory-Map Europe, with permission.

This walk was reached by the road signed "Widecombe", from the A38 just past Ashburton, heading towards Exeter, via Owlacombe Cross, Halshanger Cross, turn right at Cold East Cross, left at Hemsworthy Gate after passing Rippon Tor on the right. Then, right at Harefoot Cross and on to the car park by Hound Tor, signed by the  P  symbol and yellow cross on the map.