TORS OF DARTMOOR
a database of both lesser- & well-known rocks and outcrops
Bagga TorBag-a-Tor, Bag Tor, Bagtor, Baketorre, Bog Tor  Bagga Tor is probably one of the most difficult places on Dartmoor to drive to even though a minor road takes the visitor right up the rocks. The problem is the limited parking spaces by the gate and it has been known for people to turn away disappointed after an hour or so drive to get there. It is particularly popular early on New Year's Day as it is one of the vantage points for accessing the annual Fur Tor excursion. So be warned. The limited parking spaces are nonetheless set right beside the Lych (Lich) Way, and although Bagga Tor is supposed to be on private land, the way from the car is open and you are right at the top in a couple of minutes.  Eric Hemery (1983) in High Dartmoor - Land and People p.945 remarks; "The cone is the hard-core of an originally large tor of metamorphosed rock; several tiny rock-basins lie on the north side, below which the slope to the valley is heavily clittered; the lower remnant of the core is to be seen on the north-west side." Interesting that he says it is metamorphosed, as it is actually granite. The mistake is understandable because, when reading Josephine Collingwood in Dartmoor Tors Compendium, it is just on the edge of the granite, and; "Has been affected by hydrothermal fluids leaving the rock riddled with pink veins of quartz and tourmaline."  Writing much earlier in 1878, Frank Rutley, discussing the rocks at nearby Brazen Tor, confirms the arrangement but an image he shows in his booklet looks remarkably like the distinctive upper photo shown here. Despite its lowly appearance as Hemery notes there are some shallow rock basins to look for atop the main outcrop. In recent years a deeply incised cross has been rather crudely cut on one of the upper boulders by the path that leads out to the open moor.  This path, a military track to be precise, was the subject of considerable controversy in 1965 when it was resurfaced by the Ministry of Defence. This article appeared in the Evening News for London of October 6th under the heading:
WRONG STONE
Red Faces Over A Bright Pink Path MINISTRY men are red-faced over a bright pink stone path they laid on Dartmoor.
Instead of using local grey Dartmoor stone for the job, Ministry of Works officials ordered pink stone to be hauled 45 miles from Kingswear. And the 150-yard-long track track at Baggator Gate could be seen for miles. Angry farmers and members of the Dartmoor Preservation Association protested. A committee member, Admiral Sir Guy Sayer, of Widecome-in-the-Moor [sic], said: "Goodness knows why this hideous pink stone was brought from Kingswear, no doubt at great public expense. This track was originally surfaced with grey Dartmoor stone, and the same material is is all around and could easily have been used again."
A Ministry of Defence spokesman at Taunton said: "The track was being resurfaced so that it could be used by military vehicles, and the colour did not really matter so far as we were concerned. "But local people wanted it to blend with the surroundings. so we called in a Ministry of Works man from Plymouth. He decided that Kingswear stone had been used originally, so some pink stone was brought from there "However, this seems to be wrong, so we are resurfacing again, this time with grey stone. The pink stone will be covered up, and not taken back to Kingswear."
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