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List of geographical tors

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The following list enumerate and expand on notable tors.


Tors in Great Britain

Dartmoor

Panorama of some of Dartmoor's tors in the snow

Dartmoor represents one of the largest areas of exposed granite in the United Kingdom, covering an area of 368 square miles (954 square kilometres).[1] It is part of a chain of granite stretching through Cornwall, as far as the Isles of Scilly.

Some of the more durable granite survived to form the rocky crowns of Dartmoor tors. One of the best known is at Haytor, on the eastern part of the moor, whose granite is of unusually fine quality and was quarried from the hillside below the tor during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its stone was used to construct the pillars outside the British Museum in London, and to build London Bridge. The last granite to be quarried there was used to build Exeter War Memorial in 1919.

Ten Tors is an annual weekend hike on Dartmoor.

Hawk's Tor, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall

Cornwall

Peak District

There are many tors in this area, notably in the Dark Peak where the host rock is Millstone Grit:

  • Back Tor, Derwent Edge (538m)
  • Carl Wark, Hathersage Moor
  • Dovestone Tor, Derwent Edge (505m)
  • Great Tor, Bamford
Higger Tor

In addition there are hills which incorporate 'tor' in their name but yet do not feature the geomorphological feature described in this article. Examples include Mam Tor and Shining Tor.[2]

Pennines

Scotland

There are numerous tors developed in the Cairngorm granite in the Scottish Highlands:

Other areas

Tor Bay, one of the sandy beaches near Oxwich Bay on the Gower Peninsula in south Wales, is so-called because the beach is framed by a huge outcrop of Carboniferous Limestone.

Tors in other countries

Externsteine, Germany

Germany

India

Tors are very commonly found in the Telangana and the Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh

North America

Part of the Angel Rocks formation in Alaska

Africa

Kit-Mikayi, a celebrated tor near Kisumu, Kenya

New Zealand

References

  1. ^ Dartmoor National Park Authority website. Retrieved 12 October 2008
  2. ^ Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 scale Explorer map sheets OL1 Dark Peak area & OL24 White Peak area