SHEEPS TOR— -
and was the hiding-
during the Civil War. From the summit of the Tor is obtained a grand panorama of the country which separates this height from Plymouth Sound and the wooded slopes
of Mount Edgcumbe, while northward stretch the rolling heights of Dartmoor.
The descent from Sheeps Tor on the north side is most easily accomplished by bearing well to the right, so as to avoid the clatter of rocks which strew the westerly as well as the easterly slope.
Then a path through a farm yard leads on the right into a lane which skirts the head of the Reservoir.
Crossing the stream by a bridge , we have the twin peaks of Lether Tor before us and beyond that the Princetown Road.
There are some remains within easy distance of the road, a group of hut circles and a stone avenue, a rock basin and other hut circles on and around Black Tor. To Crazy Well Pool , Nun’s Cross and Childe’s Tomb.
Instead of making direct for Princetown, it is better to take the lane past Kingset to Crazy Well Pool or Classenwell , which, though of small extent , had the distinction before Burrator Reservoir was made of being the only lake on these wide-
Like
the Reservoir it really has no claim to the title, for it is only an old mine-
At one time fabulous stories of its depth were current, but it has been ascertained that this does not exceed 15 ft.
About a mile and a half from this pool is Nun’s Cross or Siward’s Cross , which dates from the eleventh century, though it has been overthrown and broken and was restored about the middle of the last century. It is seven feet high and bears on one side the inscription Crux Siwardi , and on the other letters which Mr. Crossing deciphered as BocL o n d , and so concludes that it possibly
CHILDE’S TOMB 95
marked the boundary of the lands held b y Siward, Earl of Northumberland in the time of Edward the Confessor, as well as being one of the guide posts of the ancient
Abbots Way.
A mile and a half again to the east, in the Swincombe valley, below Fox Tor, is Childe’s Tomb, an ancient kistvaen, which is also one of the notable features of the
Moor and is associated with the romantic story of Childe
the Hunter. Lost in a snowstorm on the Moor, Childe
slew his horse and crept inside the animal's carcass for
warm th and shelter. B ut the storm got worse and
Childe was frozen to death. Before he died, however, he
dipped his finger in blood and scrawled his will on the
stones :—
Whoe’er it be that findeth me,
And brings me to my grave,
The lands that now to me belong
In Plymstock he shall have.
The monks of Tavistock were first upon the scene,
much to the disappointment of the monks of Buckfast, who tried to intercept them and seize the body of the luckless Childe. However, they were outwitted b y the Tavistock monks, who threw a bridge across the T a v y and so carried off the body, and it is to be presumed inherited the estate. Anyone so sceptical as to doubt
the story may go to Tavistock, where he may find Guile Bridge to this day. What part Childe’s Tomb played
in the tragedy is not very clear. The monument as it
now exists was restored b y the Dartmoor Preservation
Association a few years ago, it having been despoiled
early in the last century b y the builder of a neighbouring
farmhouse, now in ruins.
To Meavy, Marchant’s Cross and Drizzlecombe.
Meavy village, which lies in the hollow about a mile
from Yelverton, is on the banks of the river whose
waters are so largely diverted to slake the thirst of
Plym outh. It has an ancient Church (St. Peter’s) in
S H A U GH B R ID G E to Shaugh Bridge, close to the confluence of the Meavy
with the Cad, their united waters forming the Plym (the
sponsor of Plym outh). Bridge and stream are almost
hidden b y overhanging trees. The present structure
replaced an older one swept aw ay b y a flood in 1826.
The scene is a favourite one with artists, and the bridge
was a resort of Carrington, “ the poet of the Moor : ”
Oft, as noon
Unnoticed faded into eve, my feet
Have lingered near thy bridge, romantic Shaugh,
While as the sister waters rushed beneath
Tumultuous, haply glanced the setting beam
Upon the crest of Dewerstone.
Near the bridge are two or three houses where tea m ay
be obtained. Crossing the river b y a bridge made from a
baulk of timber which has partly slipped from its position and needs to be warily traversed, we follow through
the wood a pathw ay which leads to a woodman’s cottage.
Then turning to the right we have a level track for some
distance. When there is again a choice of w ay we take
the rather stony path on the left and at the top again
turn to the right, and after passing some disused quarries
bear to the left. There is a more direct road which
involves very rough scrambling through the wood.
In any case it is necessarily a bit of a climb to the brow
of the huge ivy-
The Dewerstone.
This crag was another favourite haunt of Carrington,
who styled it “ The Monarch of the Moor.” A flat
stone on the summit is inscribed, “ C a r r i n g t o n , O b i i t
S e p t e m b e r i 8 , m d c c c x x x .” The names of some D evonshire artists have recently been added. There are traces
of an old camp in two walls built across the headland,
the sides facing the river being rendered impregnable
b y nature. Crossing the remains of this ancient fortification, we come upon Wigford Down, on which are some
hut circles, kistvaens and barrows. Here also are the
quarries from which the china clay which is worked near
Shaugh Bridge is raised.