A Walk Around... Foggintor Quarry

The granite quarry at Foggintor, formerly known as the 'Royal Oak' and located on the western side of the high moor, was opened around 1820. Granite from the area however had been taken since the end of the 18th century, some of which was used in the construction of buildings in and around Princetown, including the prison. Quarrying at Foggintor stopped at the beginning of the 20th century when focus moved to the more productive quarry at nearby Swell Tor. Granite from Foggintor quarry was used in numerous buildings throughout Britain, including Nelson's Column, although almost nothing now remains of the original outcrops of Foggin Tor or Swell Tor.

These two quarries are interesting historical additions to the National Park, and both have numerous visual remains of their industrial pasts, but I find them forbidding places. There's a latent violence within the vast man-made tumble of shattered stone that litters the ground, emphasised perhaps by the still quietness in which both quarries now lie.

Access: easy from Princetown, about 2km along the disused railway. Swelltor quarry is slightly further west but both enjoy spectacular views across the tors to the north and into Cornwall to the west. Dangerous for everyone, especially pets and children [although it's not uncommon to see ponies and sheep grazing on the very lip of the quarry walls!].

Looking north over part of the quarry towards King Tor and Merrivale, with sheep and two people for scale

Eastern face of the quarry wall with some remarkable purple/red discoloration to the rock

Straight down the sheer sides of the quarry wall, with sheep to far right!

The eastern wall of Foggintor quarry

The blue/black lake now occupying the northern end of the quarry with views stretching far into Cornwall

Looking into the quarry from its northern end

Looking north from inside the quarry

The sheer eastern walls of Foggintor quarry

Huge blocks of granite, a by-product of the quarrying process, lie at the feet of the cliff

The narrow footpath threading its way across the quarry floor

The view from outside the quarry itself, over the huge spoil heaps towards King Tor and Merrivale

Ruins of a quarry building

The northern edge of the quarry looking towards King Tor, Merrivale and the great sequence of tors north of the Princetown/Tavistock road

The isolated Yellowmeade Farm with Great Mis Tor beyond as seen from the periphery of the quarry site

Source: 'Industrial Archaeology of Dartmoor', Helen Harris, 1986