St Michael de Rupe, Brent Tor

Churches dedicated to St Michael are often to be found in high places and St Michael of the Rock is a good example. Brent Tor is an outlier of Dartmoor and those who climb to its summit are rewarded by a 360° panorama. The stone sundial is set high on the tower which makes it difficult to distinguish details and the lichens which have colonised it obscure things still further. At the top is a crude angel with outstretched wings (and, according to Mrs Crowley, a tailplane too) while immediately below is the date, 1624, separated by the letters WR. No credible maker of this period can be identified from them. A sun face surrounds the root of the gnomon whiole at the bottom of the dial is the name Walter Batten with the second T of the surname fused with the E which follows. He is more likely to have been the churchwarden than the maker of the dial. Down the sides of the dial are decorative features consisting of two designs repeated alternately. Rosettes are present in the lower corners. The dial shows VI - VI divided into halves and quarters with XII at noon and IIII at 4pm. The dial measures 450mmw x 600mmh.