TORS OF DARTMOOR

a database of both lesser- & well-known rocks and outcrops

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Little Holwell Tor

This is a small tor, which could be considered an outlier of the much larger Holwell Tor to the north, but when it is seen from the south actually appears as quite separate from that by some 200 metres or so.

It is very distinctive when viewed from the hillside below and retains a small upright stack amid much larger outcrops of fissured granite. Whilst Eric Hemery acknowledges the rocks here he simply refers to them as "the southernmost pile" of the parent tor but adds "from where a backward glance reveals Emsworthy Rocks as a markedly elongated rock ridge". He strangely makes no further comment on the appearance of the outcrops of Little Holwell which are quite striking with one at the south west end contorted into what resembles a crumpled stone face when seen from certain angles.

The name of Little Holwell first appears in February 2011 on Tim Jenkinson's Flickr Photostream where he writes of a view from near the road below Holwell Rocks: "As seen from Holwell Lawn there is another view of Haytor on Dartmoor with an unknown tor/rockpile in the foreground that may be a southern outlier of Holwell Tor perhaps it should be known as 'Little Holwell'." Two months later he writes of the little upright pile on the tor: "Part of the Little Holwell group (a name I have given to these rocks) an isolated tor to the south of the main Holwell Tor on Southern Dartmoor. This is the curious stack within the rocks looking towards Great Hound Tor in the distance. The purists would probably say that this is nothing more than an outlier of the main group."

As with all the tors and rocks that reside on the eastern side of the Combe here the views are spectacular especially to the north where the giant granite eminences of Greator Rocks and Hound Tor dominate. In all essence it should have its own identity and is later recorded as such by Ken Ringwood (2013).

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Little Holwell Tor
The map above is not a navigation tool and we recommend that the grid reference shown below is used in conjunction with an Ordnance Survey map and that training in its use with a compass is advised.
Grid Ref:
SX 7508 7740
Height:
395m
Parish:
Ilsington
Tor Classification:
Spur
Access:
Public
Rock Type:
Granite
Credit:
Tim Jenkinson
Reference / Further Reading:
Tim Jenkinson (2011): East Dartmoor The Hidden Landscape: Rocks and Tors (published privately)
Ken Ringwood (2013): Dartmoor's Tors and Rocks
Eric Hemery (1983): High Dartmoor

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