Dartmoor & Exmoor
Top Tor
432M
1417FT
About Top Tor
Rising above the village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor, this classic granite outcrop offers a quintessential Dartmoor experience without a taxing approach. Characterised by its weather-beaten stacks, it sits amidst a cluster of smaller tors, providing expansive views across the Webb's Marsh valley toward the bulky silhouette of Hameldown.
Key Statistics
Rank
47th Highest in Region
Parent Range
Dartmoor
Prominence
?
38
Nearest Town
Ashburton
Geology
You are standing on solid granite. These rocks formed from a giant pool of molten magma that cooled and hardened deep beneath the ground.
Classifications
Find It
Latitude
50.5718°N
Longitude
3.7863°W
Did You Know?
- •The name is a straightforward topographical description, distinguishing it as the highest point of a trio of granite outcrops that includes the nearby Pil Tor and Tunhill Tor.
- •From the summit, the view west is dominated by the 14th-century church tower of Widecombe-in-the-Moor—often called the 'Cathedral of the Moors'—nestled in the valley below.
- •The surrounding slopes are rich in Bronze Age archaeology, specifically the remains of Foales Arrishes, a collection of prehistoric hut circles and field boundaries located just to the south.
- •Geologically, the tor showcases typical Dartmoor granite weathering, with horizontal joints and 'rock basins' formed by centuries of rainwater and freeze-thaw action on the summit rocks.
- •Despite its assertive name, the tor is comfortably looked down upon by the much higher Rippon Tor to the southeast; it is very much the 'top' of its own immediate ridge and nowhere else.