The official web site of Camelford Town Council

Roughtor, the second highest landmark in Cornwall, is accessible from the main road (A39) heading north from Camelford. Take a signed turning to the right just as you are leaving the town from thence to the NT car park from where you can see the three tors, Showery Tor to the left, Little Rough Tor in the middle and Roughtor to the right. The easiest approach is to head for Little Roughtor and then on to Roughtor.  The walk can be strenuous, sometimes boggy in places and so good footwear is advisable.

To your right before you start your ascent, you can see a memorial to Charlotte Dymond, brutally murdered there in 1884. Her boyfriend Mathew Weeks, was tried, found guilty and executed in Bodmin Gaol for the crime, though there is considerable doubt as to whether he was the killer.  You can visit 'The Courtroom Experience', at Shire Hall  Bodmin. There you’ll find documented        

Charlotte Dymond's murder and the subsequent court case.

During the course of your ascent and from the top of Roughtor, you will see all around you signs of pre-historic settlements and field systems, testament to it  having once had a fair sized population. You can clearly see the outlines of complete stone dwellings. Some of these were excavated by the Time Team in 2007

From the summit are some fine views across the county - Brown Willy to the South East and the Stannon china clay works to the North West. At the summit is a WWII memorial whose inscription is shown above, also the foundations of a mediæval chapel built into the side of one of the larger cairns. Dedicated to St Michael,, it was first recorded in the 14th century and is the only known mediæval hilltop chapel on the Moor. It overlooks an ancient trackway across the moors and    

Sources:
www.historic-cornwall.org.uk
www.bedknobs.co.uk
www.the magic of cornwall.com
www.roll-of-honour.com
Photography:  The Webmaster

© Bob Ireland