TORS OF DARTMOOR
a database of both lesser- & well-known rocks and outcrops
Honeybag TorHoney Bag Tor, Honeybags
 Honeybag is a quite magnificent tor with many sprawling outcrops that stud the far northern portion of Bonehill Down. The rocks are engulfed with many xenoliths, where country rock has been absorbed into the intruding magma; they appear as solid golf balls protruding from the granite stacks and are interesting to examine. According to Eric Hemery, the area is also known as 'Honeybags'.  The tor is best described by William Crossing in 'Guide to Dartmoor', p.296; "From Honeybag Tor we have a fine view of the upper part of the Widecombe valley, and of Hameldon, a wide extent of moorland and cultivated country also being visible. The derivation of its name is not clear, but it may be worth while to note, if only as a curious circumstance, its similarity to hunne-bed, a name given to ancient burial monuments situated chiefly in the province of Drenthe in the Netherlands."  The outcrops here are a stark contrast to those seen at the slightly higher neighbour of Chinkwell Tor; they are far more striking and topple down the hillside in all directions from the summit which, from some angles, could resemble a ruined castle. The tor's stature is best appreciated from the steep west slope and to the south where the granite bastion is likened to a mountain of stone that opposes the distinctively and comparatively less rocky fringes of the Hameldown Ridge across the East Webburn River valley. 
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