Brent-Tor (St. Michael)
BRENT-TOR (St. Michael), a parish, in the union and hundred of Tavistock, Tavistock and S. divisions of Devon, 4 miles (N.) from Tavistock; containing 169 inhabitants. This place partly derives its name from its situation on a lofty eminence or tor, which, differing materially in its strata from all other tors in Dartmoor Forest, is by geologists supposed to have been originally a volcanic eruption. It comprises 887 acres, whereof 100 are common or waste. The small river Lid runs through the parish; in which are also a fine sheet of water called Stowford Lake, and some mines of manganese. The village is built on the acclivity of the eminence; and the church, occupying its summit, forms a conspicuous landmark to vessels entering Plymouth harbour. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £60; patron and impropriator, the Duke of Bedford.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.