During these periods of famine, life expectancy dropped to a meagre 29 years.īut medieval England had another enemy to contend with during the 14th century the Black Death. The famines were caused by extraordinary cold winters being followed up by wet and cold summers, and it is now believed that these unusual weather patterns were caused by a volcanic event in far-flung New Zealand.

The first is that the weather in Britain (and indeed Europe) deteriorated quite significantly during the 14th century, ultimately leading to the Great Famine of 1315 – 1317, as well as smaller famines in 1321, 13.

By the mid-14th century – possibly the early 15th century – the village was entirely deserted and all farming had ceased.

Indeed, by 1086 it was home to 6 households, 7 cattle, 28 sheep, 18 goats, and was ruled by a certain ‘Lord Reginald’.Ībove: Hound Tor’s entry in the Domesday Bookīut that’s about as much as we know. Perched atop a valley in the Dartmoor National Park lies the mysterious, eerie and deserted medieval village of Hound Tor (also known as Hundatora).Įxcavated in the 1960s, historians now believe that the land around Hound Tor had been farmed since the Neolithic age, and by the time of the Norman Conquest the area was a big enough settlement to warrant an inclusion in the Domesday Book.

Time for go to bed tor johnson