TORS OF DARTMOOR
a database of both lesser- & well-known rocks and outcrops
Tavy Cleave North-East Tor (lower)Tavy Cleave Tors
 The Tavy Cleave Tors are among the most glaring of omissions from Ordnance Survey Maps, for they are so striking that it is shocking to see how underrepresented they are on the most popular map of Dartmoor National Park. The five most prominent outcrops are often collectively known as the 'Tavy Cleave Tors' and have been documented as such in the literature, but only one pile, Sharp Tor, bears its own identity. This is a bit of a mistake because although that tor is perhaps the grandest of the group, it does the other outcrops a disservice. We have Crossing (1905) to thank for giving us an idea on the number of tors here; "The group of tors to which allusion has been made stands above the north-eastern side of the great amphitheatre and consists of five distinct piles. They are usually known as the Tavy Cleave Tors, only one of them bearing a distinctive title."  Downhill towards the river is this smaller pile but still enjoying spectacular scenery, particularly across the Cleave where the magnificent sprawling rocks of Knoll are seen, a ruined tor that is called 'Outer Standon' by Crossing. Together with their vegetation covered tops the north east tors somewhat resemble from afar the appearance of the Dunnagoats further upstream to the north in Rattlebrook Country.  Tavy Cleave is an absolutely stunning valley where heavily clittered hillsides oppose one another and the River Tavy that takes centre stage amongst this wilderness of granite, leading Crossing to remark that "for wild grandeur is unsurpassed throughout the Moorland region". Dr. Peter Sanders and Alan Watson were the first to describe the remaining four rockpiles individually and attempted to name them in 1996, but it was Tim Jenkinson who gave them slightly adjusted names in his Spring 2019 Dartmoor Magazine article that were agreed after an assessment and consultation with the Tors of Dartmoor team. 
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