Bowerman's Nose is one of my favourite spots on Dartmoor and loved coming here when on my family holidays. So this place holds a special place in my heart <3
THE MYTH
Many years ago there lived a giant man known as Bowerman the Hunter on the Eastern part of Dartmoor. He was a tall, powerful man who owned a pack of large, fierce hounds and who loved hunting on the moors that he loved so well. Besides being a keen hunter, he was a jovial kindly man who was generous to the poor and who was popular and well-liked by almost everyone. At that time there were witches who held their meetings in secluded spots on the Moor and terrorised the local people who were afraid of them. But Bowerman was afraid of no-one, and the witches disliked him because not only was he not afraid of them but he encouraged others not to be afraid. In turn the witches were a little scared of Bowerman due to his great strength and his pack of fierce hounds who went everywhere with him.
One dark Autumn evening Bowermerman was out hunting with his hounds, hot on the scent of a hare, and just as they were about to catch it the hare turned into a narrow valley, closely followed by the hounds and then by Bowerman himself. This valley was where the witches would hold their Sabbaths and they were in the middle of their rites when suddenly the hare, the hounds and Bowerman burst in upon them. This left the witches shrieking with rage. Once the witches had settled down they plotted their revenge. One of them, Levera, had the power to turn herself into a hare, and she did this and placed herself where Bowerman and his pack would find her whilst the other witches prepared an ambush.
Having lost their prey in the valley, Bowerman and his hounds picked up Levera’s scent and soon gave chase. Levera led them a chase he had never experienced; hour after hour across the rough peaty moorland, up hills and over tors, across streams and through river valleys. At last, when Bowerman and his hounds were almost completely exhausted Levera slowed down, almost allowing herself to be caught, and then suddenly turning abruptly around the side of the tor where the witches were hidden, followed by Bowerman and his hounds. The hunter suddenly found himself surround by the evil witches who combined to cast a powerful spell which turned Bowerman and his hounds into stone where they stood. You can still see the figure that was Bowerman with his pack of hounds scattered around just as they were that fatal day, and sometimes, when the night is misty of moonless people claim to have heard Bowerman and his pack following some quarry.
The people of Dartmoor were so angry when they heard of the fate that had befallen their friend that they too forgot their fear and became determined to drive the witches out of Devon forever. Realising what they had stirred up, the witches mounted their broomsticks and were carried on the wind over the Bristol Channel into Wales. That is why, even to this day, there have never since been any evil witches in Devon.
THE SCIENCE
As well as being an iconic feature of Dartmoor, Bowerman’s Nose is also an interesting geological feature. It is human nature to see patterns and human characteristics within things in the world around us, including inanimate objects. Examples of this are common, such as seeing shapes or animals in cloud formations. Rocks, and geological features, are no exception to this and there is even a word to describe this phenomena, Mimetolith.
The definition of a Mimetolith is as follows. “A natural topographic feature , rock outcrop, rock specimen, mineral specimen, or loose stone the shape of which resembles something else, e.g. a real or fancied animal, plant or other object.” It has also been used to describe rock, or rock faces, that have been cut/worked, to achieve the desired shape or appearance. However, it is fairly universally agreed that this goes beyond the definition of a Mimetolith, which should only been formed through natural processes, such as weathering.
The way that a Mimetolith forms varies depending on multiple factors. Some of these include environment, location and geology, to name a few. These factors will have an effect on what process of erosion has led to the formation of a particular Mimetolith.
At Bowerman’s nose, as with most of the upland area of Dartmoor, the geology consists of granite. The granite of Dartmoor, which is part of the Cornubian Batholith (one giant intrusion), was exposed sometime after 300 million years ago. Bowerman’s nose is a great case study for how the processes of erosion of the granite of Dartmoor has formed the landscape, the tors and some more interesting and unusual feature. The two main ‘features’ of erosion visible on Bowerman’s nose are the horizontal and vertical joints. Joints are a geological feature/term that are essentially cracks in the rock that may or may not go all the way through a particular outcrop.
Prior to the granite being exposed on Dartmoor, a combination of the cooling process, and the erosion of the material covering the granite have resulted in the horizontal joints visible today. When the molten rock, that later formed the granite you can see today, started to cool the material would have ‘shrunk’. Because the mixture of molten material and newly formed rock would have cooled at different rates, small joints and fractures would have formed in the cooled rock. Much later in the geological timescale, when the material above the granite was eroded away, the release of weight on the granite would have widened existing horizontal joints and caused new ones to form.
Vertical joints were formed by a combination of chemical and physical weathering. Feldspar crystals, which are an important component of granite, are far more susceptible to chemical weathering than the surrounding rock. This chemical weathering would have started to create cracks and weaknesses in the granite, that allows physical weathering, in the form of freeze thaw. Water accumulates in the hollows and cracks started by the chemical weather and on freezing it expands and forces the rock apart. Over time this gradual process creates these vertical joints.
These horizontal and vertical joints combine to weather the granite outcrops of Dartmoor, most notably the tors. The joints would sufficiently weaken the granite until the point that gravity would pull away the piece of granite separated from the main outcrop. At the posted coordinates, this process has created a granite stack, which displays both types of joints. As an accidental by-product of this process the mimetolith of Bowerman’s Nose has been created.
Please answer these questions:
1. Estimate the height of Bowerman
2. Which direction is Bowerman facing?
3. Using the information above how do you think Bowerman was formed?
4. Please describe his appearance from the posted co-ordinates
Photos are not a logging requirement but they would be great to see! I will accept answers through either messenger or email :)