TORS OF DARTMOOR
a database of both lesser- & well-known rocks and outcrops
Bearacleave Middle Tor Across what appears to be an old ruined perhaps medieval tin miners combe and at little more than 150 metres to the south of the northern group is another fine tor. Here there is a similar sprawl of spectacular outcrops, however these are somewhat different some with great walls of granite where a curious effect of knobbly bands of xenoliths are seen to protrude from the rocks like granite scars bursting from the very substance of the tor. The rocks here are mostly rounded some forming caves and presenting as climbing platforms for the bouldering community.  One of the outcrops at SX 81583 79616 has a perfectly formed rock basin on its upper surface and was first noticed by Max Piper in 2019. Full of the debris of dead leaves and mud and stagnant rainwater almost to its brim, it is a remarkable artefact of the passage of time an excavation formed when the tors were fully exposed to the elements here long before the hillside here was planted with a canopy of protective trees. The basin measures approximately 43cms X 40cms and is about 5cms deep.  The climbing and bouldering community have spent a great deal of time extensively exploring Bearacleave and its neighbouring woods, giving some of the climbing routes and features on these huge outcrops unusual nicknames. You are directed to their book on the subject for further information (Dartmoor: A Climbers' Club Guide by James Clapham) but we have not repeated those names here. Instead we have attempted to group the grand rock piles in accordance with their positions relative to one another in Bearacleave Wood. 
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