Sharp Tor, Peter Tavy

• Parish: Peter Tavy
• Height: 348 m
• Grid reference: SX 5248 7704
• Rock: Metamorphic (not granite)
• Also called: Peter Tavy Sharp, Peter Tavy Sharp Tor, Sharpetor
• Access: Private land, but a public bridleway passes close by to the north

This Sharp Tor lies roughly halfway between Great Combe Tor and the lower north-western slopes of Cocks Tor, above Peter Tavy Combe, in Peter Tavy parish. It has three large rock crags crowned with spindly hawthorns, and the biggest, the central southern pile, is about four metres high and well weathered and ridged by the wind and rain from the west. The rock is metamorphic, not granite. From the north-west the view takes in the churches of Brentor, Mary Tavy and Peter Tavy, and the distant ruins of Wheal Betsy mine.

The name is old. Eric Hemery traced it to the tithe apportionments of 1829 and 1841, and plot 287 on the Peter Tavy tithe map is called Sharpetor Field. William Crossing listed it as Sharp Tor (Peter Tavy) in 1902, and in 1912 wrote that the tor seen between Great Combe Tor and Cocks Tor Hill is locally known as Sharp Tor. Tors of Dartmoor says the tor has lost its identity and is now mainly known by that name to local people. Moormen used sharp for tors that stand sharply from their surroundings.

The land is private, but the public bridleway that passes close by to the north gives a view. Dartmoor has seven tors called Sharp Tor and two spelled Sharpitor. This one is about 7 km south of the Tavy Cleave Sharp Tor (listing 6125), and is a much lower, quieter tor.

This is a location on Dartmoor that has a namesake. Read more about this: Dartmoor Places With the Same Name