TORS OF DARTMOOR
a database of both lesser- & well-known rocks and outcrops
Bowden Beer Rocks Derek Harper (2007) suggests that 'Beer' is possibly a corruption of 'bearu' an old English word for 'wood' or perhaps 'ber' a Celtic term for a 'promontory' or high point of land, both definitions being applicable here. The steep sided hill of Bowden Beer lies above Bowden Farm about three quarters of a mile to the west of Bennah an outlying hamlet of Christow. Whilst public footpaths skirt the woodland to both the south and west it is the latter that offers the best approach to the summit.  Here hidden in the trees is a collection of rather scruffy piles at least eight to be precise none of which are that impressive all largely tangled in the undergrowth of brambles, moss, ferns and ivy that creep up and cover the outcrops. Some of the better rocks seem to be on the south side but most of these are still broken and dark, shrouded from light for decades by the claustrophobic wood.  The non granite rocks here sprawl over a distance of 200 metres or so from south to north, but the terrain underfoot is difficult and rough with low hanging branches and although paths pass nearby, the rocks themselves are quite difficult to reach. Indeed some of the piles especially to the north are actually on private land so beware. 
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