TORS OF DARTMOOR
a database of both lesser- & well-known rocks and outcrops
Wood Hill Lower Tor When the Wood Hill Tors were first discovered by Tim Jenkinson in March 2016 access to the rocks was extremely difficult, as they were cloaked in a canopy of suffocating conifer trees. However, extensive clearing of the wood in 2018 meant that a subsequent visit by the Tors of Dartmoor Team in October 2019 gave the opportunity to see both tors in daylight and whilst reaching them was a little easier the route was still hampered by tripping over the debris of discarded branches and amputated tree trunks.  The lower tor is easily the most impressive, a fine rockpile that has somehow survived the excavations of the nearby Westcott Quarry that was opened in 1909 and along with the Trusham and Bridford quarries formed part of what was known as the Devon Basalt and Granite Company Limited founded by J Harvey (Paddy) Dickson. Luckily, the tor sits just outside the workings on the edge of a wood that extends uphill and conceals the magnificent Westcott Rocks.  The main part of the tor here is a huge conical outcrop of great height with a split face at the junction of some old walls and a modern wooden fence. Now much better illuminated on account of light reaching the rocks for the first time in decades it is a striking tor that at the time of writing in 2020 is visible from the open space and public footpath on the hillside to the west above Westcott Wood. 
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