TORS OF DARTMOOR
a database of both lesser- & well-known rocks and outcrops
Gipsy Rock This is a very small, overgrown metamorphic outcrop by the roadside in the Parish of Walkhampton. Research finds that it is thought to have been the meeting place of the Walkhampton Hundred (administrative division) in Saxon times. There is also a speculative connection with Walkhampton Church, in that the building faces north-east, the point of sunrise on the longest day, rather than due east and Gipsy Rock is on this alignment.  In Dartmoor Magazine Issue 139, Steve Mason wrote a letter in response to an article written by Richard Horsham in Issue 138, who uses the spelling of 'Gypsy'. Mason goes about highlighting some errors in Horsham's account e.g "a small insignificant stone block". After pointing out the mis-location by Horsham he confirms the Walkhampton Tithe Map site of c1840.  Mason then describes the Rock as "roughly cuboid in shape standing some 6ft high" and adds "on the plus side the article has prompted renewed interest in the rock and a number of local residents have been motivated into a spot of 'gardening', clearing away the overgrowth and restoring it to its former pristine glory". 
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