TORS OF DARTMOOR
a database of both lesser- & well-known rocks and outcrops
Torrs Wood Tor Perhaps one of the most unlikeliest places to find a small tor is on a golf course but that is exactly what we have on the slopes above the hamlet of Wrangaton on South Dartmoor. A unique design the golf course here is split into two distinct halves, the upper more rugged nine holes is set on the undulating terrain beneath the dome of Ugbourough Beacon and was laid out in 1895 making it one of Devon's oldest. The landscaped lower nine was opened in 1991 and offers a sheltered parkland experience that is so very different from that set on high.  Above and to the right of the 14th fairway which off the competition tees is a tricky 205 yard par 3, is a grove of mostly oak trees at the most southerly edge of what is known as Torrs Wood. Hidden away and lost inside this section, are two small compact outcrops indicative of a once much larger pile here, the substance of which may have been disturbed during the build of the lower course, although much of the wood seems to have been sympathetically circumnavigated. Other odd shaped rocks are scattered across the slopes but have a somewhat different geology to the main outcrops.  The name of the wood suggests that more might have once existed here. Another feature is a magnificent carpet of bluebells that is seen at its best from early to mid May. Set on Private Land the small tor is only accessible to members of the golf club, many of whom will have little or no knowledge of its existence as they seek to par or better this attractive but very challenging hole. 
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