Lustleigh Cleave Explained

Lustleigh Cleave
Length:	2miles
Direction:	North West-South East
Coordinates:	50.621°N -3.747°W
Map:	Devon
Map Size:	180
Label:	Lustleigh Cleave
Label Position:	top
River:	River Bovey

The Lustleigh Cleave is a steep sided valley above the River Bovey^[1] in the parish of Lustleigh on Dartmoor. The cleave has been noted for its beauty since the 1800s,^{[2] [3]} and features extensively in guidebooks.^{[4] [5]}

Description

The Lustleigh Cleave is a steep-sided valley, approximately 2miles in length, with the River Bovey flowing at the bottom approximately South-Easterly.^[6]

The valley is scattered with granite clitter (rocks strewn across the landscape), including rocking logan stones.^[7]

Notable features

The cleave contains Hunter's Tor, a granite tor, typical of Dartmoor, and location of an Iron Age settlement, and later Domesday book settlement of Sutreworde.^{[8] [9]}

There is regeneration of temperate rainforest on the Lustleigh Cleave, following a reduction in grazing and swaling.^{[10] [11] [12] [13]}

Notes and References

1. Book: Crossing, William. Guide to Dartmoor; a topographical description of the forest and the commons. 1914. Plymouth Western Morning News Co. 72.
2. Book: Rowe, Samuel. A perambulation of the antient and royal forest of Dartmoor and the Venville precincts, or a topographical survey of their antiquities and scenery. 136. 1898. JG Commin.
3. Book: Nicholls Worth, Richard . Tourist's guide to South Devon . . 1880 . London . 76–77.
4. Book: A handbook for travellers in Devonshire . 1879 . 9th Revised . London . 143-149 . John Murray.
5. Book: Baddeley, MJB . South Devon and South Cornwall . Ward . CS . Dulau and Co . 1884 . London . 96-98.
6. Book: Crossing, William. Gems in a granite setting; beauties of the lone land of Dartmoor. 75–79.
7. Book: Rowe, Samuel . A perambulation of the antient and royal forest of Dartmoor and the Venville precincts, or a topographical survey of their antiquities and scenery . Rowe . Joshua Brooking . JG Commin . 1896 . Exeter . 136–137.
8. Web site: Tors of Dartmoor. Hunter's Tor (Lustleigh).
9. Mortimer . Ian . December 2021 . The Location and Extent of King Alfred's Suðewyrðe . Reports and Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the advancement of Science . 153 . 227–254.
10. News: Shrubsole . Guy . 29 April 2021 . Life finds a way: in search of England's lost, forgotten rainforests . The Guardian .
11. News: Parker . George . 16 December 2022 . In search of Britain's lost rainforests . Financial Times .
12. News: Jones . Lucy . 17 February 2023 . The plan to restore Britain's lost rainforests . Positive News .
13. Book: Shrubsole, Guy . The Lost Rainforests of Britain . . 2022 . 978-0-00-852795-2.