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Bodmin Moor

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Rough Tor
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Rough Tor




OS Grid ref:- SX146809

Rough TorRough Tor, near the town of Camelford, is situated on Bodmin Moor. It lies around a mile to the northwest of Brown Willy, which is Cornwall's highest point.

The tor has a very distinctive contour. The summit of Rough Tor rises to 1,313 feet (400m) above sea level, meaning it is the second highest point in Cornwall. The De Lank River rises in the vicinity and flows between the two hills. The tor makes an excellent viewpoint over the surrounding area.

Pronounced as 'Router', it is one of the moor's most famous landmarks, Granite boulders are strewn everywhere and half-wild moor ponies regularly graze there. The sturdy granite cliffs that edge Rough Tor are split into rectangular shapes, sculpted by the wind, rain and frosts of millennia into fascinating shapes. The rounded summit stones lie one on top of another. At the summit stands a monument to the soldiers who died in World War II.

Rough Tor and Little Rough Tor are twin summits of a prominent ridge of granite. The summit is also the site of a Logan Rock, which gently rocks back and forth when pressed.

Rough TorThe summit of the Tor was once occupied by a neolithic enclosure. The summit is encircled by a series of rough stone walls that align with natural stone outcroppings on the tor. The walls would at one time have completely encircled the tor. In the interior of this circle lie the remains of terraces leveled into the slopes, which archaeologists now understand formed the foundations of circular wooden houses. The Rough Tor enclosure is situated in an area which also containsa large concentration of upstanding monuments and other Bronze Age sites.

The summit of the tor was once crowned by a medieval chapel, which was constructed into the side of one of the cairns, and was dedicated to St. Michael. The chapel was recorded in the fourteenth century, and is the only known hilltop chapel in Bodmin Moor. As it overlooks an ancient trackway across the moor, it may have served as a guide for travellers.

There are the remains of a second building dating from the medieval era, at the bottom of the summit, and a beacon may have been maintained here or at the summit by a hermit. A medieval field system based on straight lines overlays the Bronze Age field system at Rough Tor, and several medieval artifacts have been discovered in the area, such as the base for a stone cross, and a small stone cross.

Just to the north of the tor stands a memorial to Charlotte Dymond, who was the subject of a brutal murder on Rough Tor in 1884. Her boyfriend Mathew Weeks, a simple farmhand, was tried, found guilty of the murder and hanged at Bodmin Gaol, doubt remains as to whether he was actually guilty of the offence.


A walk to Rough Tor from Camelford

length of walk- 2 miles (3.2km)

Leaving from the car park at the end of the Rough Tor road from Camelford, follow the path to the summit, passing the Bronze Age settlement. There is a scramble up to the summit cairn which offers superb views of the moor, return via the same route.


*Avoid walking on the moor if weather looks threatening.

*A compass is required for walking on the moor in case the mist descends.

*Carry light waterproof clothing.

*Wear headwear if walking in winter.

*Keep dogs under control, ponies, sheep and cattle graze on the moor.



Cornish Landscape


Cornish Landscape