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Grid ref: SX 7558 7820
On walking routes: Templer Way
Main image: Photo: Tony Atkin, Wikimedia Commons
Smallacombe Rocks holds the remains of an ancient settlement, likely Bronze Age in date, situated on the open moorland of Dartmoor. The site consists of the archaeological evidence of occupation and use preserved on and around the rocky outcrop, part of the pattern of settlement that once characterised these high moor areas when climate and land use were different from today.
Visitors walking this part of Dartmoor will find the rocks themselves, weathered granite outcrops in the landscape. The settlement evidence is subtle, scattered across the ground and not always obvious to the untrained eye. It belongs to a broader story of how people have used and shaped Dartmoor over millennia, and why this landscape, now open and wild, once supported communities living close to the land.
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Photograph by Glavind Strachan Photography“I solemnly swear to you, sir," said he, "nothing will ever induce me to set foot on Dartmoor again. If I chance to see it from the Hoe, sir, I'll avert my eyes. How can people think to come here for pleasure — for pleasure, sir! But there, Chinamen eat birds'-nests. There are depraved appetites ...”
Also on Our DartmoorCombestone Tor — A granite tor with striking rock basins and a nearby car park, sitting on the south moor between Dartmeet and Holne.
“He told me incredible tales of the large, glaring-eyed monsters that had stared at him as he lay in the bog.”
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