Page:Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries.djvu/550

 Of Dartmoor and its Borderland. 167 ascent to the rood-loft, but which for long years had been hidden from view behind a walled -up Gothic doorway, a piece of the shaft of the churchyard cross was discovered, measuring about twenty inches in length. At the same time three small granite crosses were found, each being twenty-nine inches high, one having an incised cross in the centre, between the arms. The tower of the church of '* Withycombe in the Dart- moores *' is justly celebrated for its fine proportions, and the fabric itself has had more written about it than any other of the Dartmoor churches on account of its association with the great thunder-storm of 1638. On a wooden tablet we may read the details of it, in rhyme, said to be written by one Hill, the village schoolmaster, who, it has been supposed, was related to Roger Hill, one of those who perished in the storm. Our investigations will next lead us to Hameldon, a high and conspicuous hill which forms a barrier between this pleasant combe and the forest. We shall therefore leave the village by the road which leads to the head of the vale, but shall not follow it far. On our left we shall shortly perceive a very steep lane, and making our way up this shall reach a field, across which a path will take us to the commons. On gaining the summit, we shall find that a wall extends along the lofty ridge, and is carried at one part of its course over a barrow consisting of earth and stone. This barrow is known as Hameldon Beacon, and from this point some land- marks will serve as a guide to enable us to find an old cross which is situated on this hill. Keeping the wall on our left hand, and proceeding in a direction nearly due north. Two Barrows will soon be reached. Here the wall is carried down the side of the hill towards the west, but we shall continue our course to another barrow, which we shall remark at a short distance off. This is Single Barrow, and from here we shall pass on to Broad Barrow, from the top of which, looking nearly north, we shall see what from here appears like an ordinary granite post, but which we shall presently find to be an ancient cross. From the Beacon to Broad Barrow we have been able to feast our eyes at every step upon a view embracing the whole of the central parts of the moor, as well as of a number of