| Often overlooked in favour of the more spectacular
Leather Tor and Sharpitor which lie on the south side of Yelverton to Princetown
road (B3212); Leeden Tor is situated on the north side of the road and is
one of the larger tors on Walkhampton Common. There is a car park at the
bottom from which you cannot actually see the summit. If you walk up from
this car park towards the summit you will pass through a prehistoric settlement
composed of many stone huts surrounded by what appears to be an enclosure
wall. This is best seen during the winter when the summer bracken has died
back. The whole area of Walkhampton Common contains many important archaeological
sites including stone rows, cairns, cists, stone huts and reaves (a reave
is a long and generally straight boundary wall made of stone that was built
during the Bronze Age). There are also extensive remains of the medieval
and later tin mining industry. The summit of Leeden Tor is quite extensive
with several granite stacks including one with a 'Logan Stone' (formed when
a joint is eroded away by the weather until one stone ‘balances’
on top of another). There are extensive views over the old Princetown railway
line towards the old disused Swelltor and Foggintor quarries. |
