21 
Great tracts of Dartmoor are now uninhabited ; but in prehistoric 
times the Moor had scattered villages upon it, as is evidenced by 
the collection of scores of hut circles, which are chiefly to be found 
in the immediate neighbourhood of the ancient Phcenician tin- 
workings. At that period man was probably emerging from the 
Stone Age into the Bronze Age. 
On Dartmoor are many outcrops of granite which may be 
seen standing out against the skyline like great castles on the 
horizon. These granite outcrops, known as Tors, named after the 
great god ‘“‘ Thor,’ would strongly appeal to a primitive mind, 
for great expanses of the Moor may be seen from their summits, 
and they are landmarks for miles around. 
None of the Tors appear to have any evidence of man’s labour 
upon them excepting Crockern Tor, and in this respect it appears 
to be singled out from all the others. On Crockern Tor a curious 
ceremony was held, until so late a date as about the middle of 
the eighteenth century. 
At this time Crockern Tor must have been miles away from 
any habitation; but still people appear to have collected here 
from time immemorial, to hold their Stannary Courts. The 
Stannary Courts were concerned in maintaining the purity of 
the standard of tin. No modern community would select such 
a bleak and windswept height for holding a Court ; but th fact 
that it was so used about a hundred and fifty years ago is strong 
evidence of the force of tradition. 
From Rowe’s “ Perambulations of Dartmoor,” it appears 
that a certain Richard Strode, a member of Parliament for 
Plympton, was tried in 1512 at Crockern Tor, and sentenced to 
imprisonment by the Stannators, showing this to have been an 
important Court at that time. 
By a reference to a Map of Dartmoor and the surrounding 
districts, it will be seen that there are two main roads only which 
cut across Dartmoor. These roads cross each other near Crockern 
Tor. There exists also the remains of an ancient trackway, leading 
to, and terminating at, Crockern Tor. This fact certainly points 
to Crockern Tor as being a spot where in prehistoric times men 
congregated. 
The great rocks themselves show what Prince recorded in 1697, 
when he said that “this memorable place is only a great rock 
of moorstone out of which a table and seats are hewn.” 
Mr. Hubbard visited Crockern Tor (1908). He described and 
shewed by lantern slides that the rock had been roughly hewn 
into steps or seats, advantage having been taken of the natural 
