On The Up
Some climbers ascending the rock at Hay Tor, situated in Devon's Dartmoor.
Idetordoune (1566), Ittor Doune (1687), Idetor (1737), Eator Down (1762) and Itterdown (1789) are a few recorded examples of earlier names by which Haytor was known. The name Haytor is of comparatively recent origin, and is probably a corruption of its old name and that of the Haytor Hundred, which covered the coastal area between the River Teign and River Dart, itself now considered to have been named after a lost village located somewhere between Totnes and Newton Abbot.
In the 19th century steps were made to allow pedestrians up to the top of the tor and a metal handrail fixed to allow tourists easier access to the summit. This was not entirely welcomed and in 1851, a Dr Croker complained about the rock steps that had been cut "to enable the enervated and pinguedinous scions of humanity of this wonderful nineteenth century to gain the summit". The handrail was removed in the 1960s due to it rusting: the stumps of the uprights are still embedded in the rock
On The Up
Some climbers ascending the rock at Hay Tor, situated in Devon's Dartmoor.
Idetordoune (1566), Ittor Doune (1687), Idetor (1737), Eator Down (1762) and Itterdown (1789) are a few recorded examples of earlier names by which Haytor was known. The name Haytor is of comparatively recent origin, and is probably a corruption of its old name and that of the Haytor Hundred, which covered the coastal area between the River Teign and River Dart, itself now considered to have been named after a lost village located somewhere between Totnes and Newton Abbot.
In the 19th century steps were made to allow pedestrians up to the top of the tor and a metal handrail fixed to allow tourists easier access to the summit. This was not entirely welcomed and in 1851, a Dr Croker complained about the rock steps that had been cut "to enable the enervated and pinguedinous scions of humanity of this wonderful nineteenth century to gain the summit". The handrail was removed in the 1960s due to it rusting: the stumps of the uprights are still embedded in the rock