Helman Tor | |
---|---|
Torr Helman | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 209 m (686 ft) |
Coordinates | 50°25′19″N4°43′46″W / 50.42194°N 4.72944°W |
Geography | |
OS grid | SX 062 615 |
Helman Tor (Cornish : Torr Helman) [1] is a granite hill in mid Cornwall, UK with several separated tors, and is designated as a (non-statutory) County Geology Site [2] (with similar criteria [3] to a County Wildlife Site). The hill also has a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Helman Tor is also the name of the largest nature reserve managed by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust which includes Breney Common (a Special Area of Conservation) and Red Moor. [4] The Wildlife Trust aims to rewild the reserve, including potentially releasing beavers, as well as long-horn cattle and Cornish black pigs. [5] [6] Helman Tor, along with Breney Common, Red Moor and Belowda Beacon, is part of the Mid Cornwall Moors [7] Site of Special Scientific Interest. It lies on the Saints' Way, a long-distance footpath completed in 1986. [8]
It is the northern end of a granite ridge. [9] There are at least three rocking stones (logan stone) on the ridge.
There is a prehistoric hill fort and a stone hut circle settlement on the site. [10] There is evidence of walls constructed in Neolithic period, around 6,000 years ago, as well as some level platforms, thought to be house sites, one platform has a network of postholes. There is also remains of a field system. These are similar to those at Carn Brea and limited excavation was carried out by Roger Mercer. [9]
There is a second Logan stone in the highest pile beside the trig point (triangulation point). A third logan stone is further down the ridge to the south, outside the reserve.
Bodmin Moor is a granite moorland in north-eastern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is 208 square kilometres (80 sq mi) in size, and dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. It includes Brown Willy, the highest point in Cornwall, and Rough Tor, a slightly lower peak. Many of Cornwall's rivers have their sources here. It has been inhabited since at least the Neolithic era, when early farmers started clearing trees and farming the land. They left their megalithic monuments, hut circles and cairns, and the Bronze Age culture that followed left further cairns, and more stone circles and stone rows. By medieval and modern times, nearly all the forest was gone and livestock rearing predominated.
Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers 954 km2 (368 sq mi).
A tor, which is also known by geomorphologists as either a castle koppie or kopje, is a large, free-standing rock outcrop that rises abruptly from the surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest. In the South West of England, the term is commonly also used for the hills themselves – particularly the high points of Dartmoor in Devon and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.
The River Camel is a river in Cornwall, England. It rises on the edge of Bodmin Moor and with its tributaries its catchment area covers much of North Cornwall. The river flows into the eastern Celtic Sea between Stepper Point and Pentire Point having covered about 30 miles (50 km) making it the second longest river wholly in Cornwall. The river is tidal upstream to Egloshayle and is popular for sailing, birdwatching and fishing. The name Camel comes from the Cornish language for 'the crooked one', a reference to its winding course. Historically the river was divided into three named stretches. Heyl was the name for the estuary up to Egloshayle, the River Allen was the stretch between Egloshayle and Trecarne, whilst the Camel was reserved for the stretch of river between its source and Trecarne.
A tor enclosure is a prehistoric monument found in the southwestern part of Great Britain. These monuments emerged around 4000 BCE in the early Neolithic.
Carn Marth is the name of a hill in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, near Redruth. It is 235 m (771 ft) high, and is well known for the granite quarried from it in the past. The name of the hill comes from the Cornish language words karn (cairn) and margh, meaning 'horse'.
Goonhilly Downs is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) that forms a raised plateau in the central western area of the Lizard peninsula in southern Cornwall, England. It is one of 229 English national nature reserves designated by Natural England with an area of almost 1,270 hectares.
Lanlivery is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) west of Lostwithiel and five miles (8 km) south of Bodmin. The Saints' Way runs past Lanlivery. Helman Tor, Red Moor and Breney Common nature reserves lie within the parish.
Rough Tor, or Roughtor, is a tor on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The site comprises the tor summit and logan stone, a neolithic tor enclosure, many Bronze Age hut circles, and some contemporary monuments.
Brown Gelly is a tor, hill and ridge near Dozmary Pool on Bodmin Moor near Liskeard in Cornwall, UK.
Stannon stone circle is a stone circle located near St. Breward on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, England.
Fernacre, also known as Fernacre stone circle or Fernacre circle, is a stone circle located on the slopes of the De Lank River, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) northeast of St Breward on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall in the United Kingdom.
Showery Tor is a rocky outcrop on a ridge-top approximately 0.6 kilometres (0.37 mi) north of the Rough Tor summit, near Camelford on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. It is notable for its rock formations and prehistoric monuments.
Sharptor is a hamlet west of Henwood in the civil parish of Linkinhorne in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is named after Sharp Tor on Bodmin Moor. Sharptor is close to Minions to the south, Kingbeare in the north and Darleyford to the east. Sharptor is around 280 metres (920 ft) above sea level.
Breney Common is a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest, noted for its biological characteristics, in mid Cornwall, England, UK. It is located mainly in Lanlivery civil parish, with the Saints' Way footpath running through it.
Red Moor is a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), noted for its biological characteristics, near Lanlivery in mid Cornwall, England, UK.
Brown Willy is a hill in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The summit, at 1,378 feet above sea level, is the highest point of Bodmin Moor and of Cornwall as a whole. It is about 2+1⁄2 miles northwest of Bolventor and 4 miles southeast of Camelford. The hill has a variable appearance that depends on the vantage point from which it is seen. It bears the conical appearance of a sugarloaf from the north but widens into a long multi-peaked crest from closer range.
Stowe's Hill is an elongated hill, 381 metres (1,250 ft) high, located on the eastern edge of Bodmin Moor in the county of Cornwall, England.
Leskernick Hill is on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, UK. It is 329m high and has grid reference SX183803. Leskernick Hill is within the Cornwall AONB as part of Area 12: Bodmin Moor in the parish of Altarnun. It lies in an area of moorland that is common land. Its parent hill is Brown Willy and it is within sight of Rough Tor and other local tors
The Cornish Bronze Age is an era of the prehistory of Cornwall that spanned the period from c. 2400 BCE to c. 800 BCE. It was preceded by the Cornish Neolithic, and followed by the Cornish Iron Age. It is characterized by the introduction and widespread use of copper and copper-alloy (bronze) weapons and tools.