Showery Tor is a rocky outcrop on a ridge-top approximately north of the

Rough Tor Rough Tor (), or Roughtor, is a tor on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, United Kingdom. The site is composed of the tor summit and logan stone, a neolithic tor enclosure, a large number of Bronze Age hut circles, and some contemporary monuments. Topon ...

summit, near Camelford on

Bodmin Moor Bodmin Moor ( kw, Goon Brenn) is a granite moorland in north-eastern Cornwall, England. It is in size, and dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. It includes Brown Willy, the highest point in Cornwall, and Rough Tor, a s ...

in Cornwall. It is notable for its rock formations and

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

monuments.Somerville, Christopher., The Telegraph, Article, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall: Walk of the month 14 October 2008
/ref> The Tor is a prominent landmark for a wide area. It consists of a natural outcrop of weathered granite enveloped by a giant man-made ring

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

of stones, each up to in diameter and high. Christopher Tilley has estimated the height of the cairn on which the outcrop stands to be . The site was thought to have been a religious focal point, possibly from the Neolithic or Bronze Age period. No excavations have been recorded at the site, and it is not known if any burials were made there. The granite outcrop is reminiscent of the

Cheesewring The Cheesewring ( kw, Keuswask) is a granite tor in Cornwall, United Kingdom, situated on the eastern flank of Bodmin Moor on Stowe's Hill in the parish of Linkinhorne approximately one mile northwest of the village of Minions and four miles ...

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.

Pictures

References

External links

The Modern Antiquarian illustrated entry about Showery Tor (Rocky Outcrop)

Geograph Entry on Showery Tor
* {{European Standing Stones Megalithic monuments in England Stone Age sites in Cornwall Bodmin Moor History of Cornwall Archaeological sites in Cornwall Buildings and structures in Cornwall Tourist attractions in Cornwall Bronze Age sites in Cornwall