Bowerman's Nose
Encyclopedia
Bowerman's Nose is a stack of weathered granite
on Dartmoor
, Devon
, England. It is situated on the northern slopes of Hayne Down, about a mile from Hound Tor
and close to the village of Manaton
at . It is about 21.5 feet (6.6 m) high and is the hard granite core of a former tor, standing above a 'clitter' of the blocks that have eroded and fallen from it.
Its height was exaggerated by writers in the 19th century and earlier, who also described it as an ancient object of veneration. A theory that its name was derived from the Celtic fawr maen, the "great stone" was refuted by R. Hansford Worth who pointed out that the correct Celtic form would have been maen fawr, so it could not have mutated into "Bowerman". A John Bowerman was buried at North Bovey in 1663 and the name also appears in a Dean Prior
register of 1772, so it is possible that the name is of no great antiquity.
With a little imagination, it is possible to see the profile of a human face in the rocky outline, but as John Page said in An Exploration of Dartmoor (1889): "If his nose bore any resemblance to the topmost layer of the pile, it cannot have boasted much comeliness."
.
According to local legend, a huntsman called Bowerman lived on the moor around one thousand years ago. When chasing a hare he and his pack of dogs unwittingly ran into a coven of witches, overturned their cauldron and disrupted their ceremony.
They decided to punish him, and the next time he was hunting, one of the witches turned herself into a hare, and led both Bowerman and his hounds into a mire. As a final punishment, she turned them to stone - the dogs can be seen as a jagged chain of rocks on top of Hound Tor
, while the huntsman himself became the rock formation now known as Bowerman's Nose.
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
on Dartmoor
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, England. It is situated on the northern slopes of Hayne Down, about a mile from Hound Tor
Hound Tor
Hound Tor is a tor on Dartmoor, Devon, England and is a good example of a heavily weathered granite outcrop. It is easily accessible, situated within a few minutes from the B3387 between Bovey Tracey and Widecombe-in-the-Moor...
and close to the village of Manaton
Manaton
The village of Manaton is situated on the south-eastern side of Dartmoor National Park, Devon, England.The 15th century church, in a prominent spot to the north of the village green, is dedicated to St Winifred. Three of the six bells in its tower are medieval - markings on the oldest indicate a...
at . It is about 21.5 feet (6.6 m) high and is the hard granite core of a former tor, standing above a 'clitter' of the blocks that have eroded and fallen from it.
Its height was exaggerated by writers in the 19th century and earlier, who also described it as an ancient object of veneration. A theory that its name was derived from the Celtic fawr maen, the "great stone" was refuted by R. Hansford Worth who pointed out that the correct Celtic form would have been maen fawr, so it could not have mutated into "Bowerman". A John Bowerman was buried at North Bovey in 1663 and the name also appears in a Dean Prior
Dean Prior
Dean Prior is a village and civil parish near the A38 road, in the South Hams district, in the county of Devon, England. It is located near the town of Buckfastleigh. Dean Prior has a church called St George Martyr, Dean Prior, where the seventeenth-century poet Robert Herrick was twice vicar.-...
register of 1772, so it is possible that the name is of no great antiquity.
With a little imagination, it is possible to see the profile of a human face in the rocky outline, but as John Page said in An Exploration of Dartmoor (1889): "If his nose bore any resemblance to the topmost layer of the pile, it cannot have boasted much comeliness."
Legend
Not only is it a spectacular rock formation, which appears on many local postcards and calendars, but it is also the subject of Dartmoor folkloreFolklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
.
According to local legend, a huntsman called Bowerman lived on the moor around one thousand years ago. When chasing a hare he and his pack of dogs unwittingly ran into a coven of witches, overturned their cauldron and disrupted their ceremony.
They decided to punish him, and the next time he was hunting, one of the witches turned herself into a hare, and led both Bowerman and his hounds into a mire. As a final punishment, she turned them to stone - the dogs can be seen as a jagged chain of rocks on top of Hound Tor
Hound Tor
Hound Tor is a tor on Dartmoor, Devon, England and is a good example of a heavily weathered granite outcrop. It is easily accessible, situated within a few minutes from the B3387 between Bovey Tracey and Widecombe-in-the-Moor...
, while the huntsman himself became the rock formation now known as Bowerman's Nose.