To the east of Burrator Reservoir lies the Deancombe
Valley through which the Narrator Brook runs before entering the reservoir.
High on the northern side of the valley, just below Combshead Tor, stands
a huge granite rock known as Cuckoo Rock. There are several different stories
as to how it got its name, some say it’s the shape of the top-most
outcrop, others that it was a favoured place to hear and see the first Cuckoo
of spring. Legends also has it that Cuckoo Rock was a hiding place for smuggled
liquor during the 18th century, it was also the site of one of the early
Dartmoor letterboxes. |