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Or The Donkey Cave.

Acknowledgement: Thanks go to Sheron Vowden for informing me of this name, and to Paul Rendell for further information. ‘Donkey’s Cave’ is also recorded by Liz Jones (1997) in ‘Circular Walks on Eastern Dartmoor‘. (MP)

The name is an interesting one. There are two theories it would seem, the first being that this cave was where a donkey would have been secured when locals removed timber and burnt charcoal here. This is what some locals believe and it sounds eminently believable. But another theory is given on Geograph by Sloop John B, who suggests that Victorian tourists once used donkeys to gain easier access to the top of the cleave/ridge where Hunter’s Tor Hill Fort lies. It is assumed that the cave here was named after the donkeys that passed it when they took people up the hill. Even today, it is a tricky, rocky ascent up from Hammerslake that is only really suitable for the fit and able.

The Victorians spent a lot of time on East Dartmoor and the once well-frequented train service from Newton Abbot to Moretonhampstead greatly aided their explorations, gaining access to the picturesque village of Lustleigh and surrounding valleys.

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