Showery Tor

Showery Tor is a rocky outcrop on a ridge-top approximately 0.6 kilometres (0.37 mi) north of the Rough Tor summit, near Camelford on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. It is notable for its rock formations and prehistoric monuments.[1][2]

Showery Tor
Showery Tor Cairn and natural outcrop
Locationnear Camelford, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall
Coordinates50.601389°N 4.615833°W / 50.601389; -4.615833
Architectural style(s)British pre-Roman Architecture
Location of Showery Tor within Cornwall
Showery Tor (England)

The Tor is a prominent landmark for a wide area. It consists of a natural 5-metre (16 ft) outcrop of weathered granite enveloped by a giant man-made ring cairn of stones, each up to 30 metres (98 ft) in diameter and 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) high.[3] Christopher Tilley has estimated the height of the cairn on which the outcrop stands to be 3 metres (9.8 ft).[4]

The site was thought to have been a religious focal point,[5] possibly from the Neolithic or Bronze Age period.[3] No excavations have been recorded at the site, and it is not known if any burials were made there.[3]

The granite outcrop is reminiscent of the Cheesewring and made of individual blocks on underlying outcrops formed by erosion along horizontal fractures in the granitic mass. Aerial photography has revealed more about the layout of the structures on Showery Tor and it stands out as the only natural formation to have been used in this way by the cairn designers.[6]

Pictures
Showery Tor
  • Showery Tor Ring Cairn
  • Cairn from a distance
  • View towards Rough Tor from Showery Tor Cairn
  • Another view from Showery Tor
  • Granite boulders on Showery Tor
  • View towards Showery Tor and Little Rough Tor from Rough Tor

References
  1. Somerville, Christopher., The Telegraph, Article, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall: Walk of the month 14 October 2008
  2. Robert Andrews; Matthew Teller (August 2004). The Rough Guide to Britain. Rough Guides. p. 424. ISBN 978-1-84353-301-6. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  3. Craig Weatherhill (June 1997). Cornovia: ancient sites of Cornwall & Scilly. Cornwall Books. ISBN 978-1-871060-31-7. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  4. Christopher Tilley (15 July 2010). Interpreting Landscapes: geologies, topographies, identities; explorations in landscape phenomenology; 3. Left Coast Press. pp. 407 ff. ISBN 978-1-59874-374-6. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  5. Rodney Castleden (1992). Neolithic Britain: new stone age sites of England, Scotland, and Wales. Routledge. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-415-05845-2. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  6. Timothy Darvill (1996). Prehistoric Britain from the air: a study of space, time and society. Cambridge University Press. p. 169. ISBN 978-0-521-55132-8.
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