Foggintor Quarry Walk

After our recent short break in Cornwall, as we were headed back home, we decided to spend some time in Dartmoor National Park. A quick search online and I picked Foggintor Quarry because it looked like a beautiful place. And it was a good pick as it turned out to be even more beautiful than the photographs I had seen.

A little bit of history before I share details of the walk.

Work at the Foggintor Quarry started some time in the 1820s. It was one of the three major granite quarries on the moor, the other two being Haytor and Merrivale. Foggintor Quarry was the one that provided granite for the construction of London's Nelson's Column in the early 1840s. The stone from the quarry was also used to build the Dartmoor Prison and a few other buildings in nearby Princetown.

The quarry ceased being functional in 1906 and with humans removed from the scene, nature began reclaiming the area. More than a century later, what was once a thriving and busy place is now a serene sanctuary. It is very peaceful and quiet and the only sounds you hear are those of birds chirping, water dripping somewhere or pebbles dislodging from the rock outcrops and falling into the water.

Walking to the Foggintor Quarry in Dartmoor

The starting point for the Foggintor Quarry walk is a small car park just off the B3357. The car park (grid reference: SX567749) is located at the entrance of the track that leads to Yellowmeade Farm.

The walk to the quarry is simple and along the track that leads to the farm. Once past the farm (on the right), continue along the track until you reach some ruins (also on the right).

During its time, Foggintor was a very busy place with a large number of granite masons and quarry labourers working on site. As the working community grew, offices, cottages, a school and even a chapel came up around the quarry. The ruins that you see today are the remains of some of these buildings.

On the left of the path, you will notice an opening between the rocks. That's the entrance to Foggintor Quarry - at one time one of the largest granite quarries on Dartmoor. 

Foggintor Quarry is an interesting and beautiful place to explore. You can wander around and explore as you wish. It is an unmanaged area and there are no marked paths. We found a path that took us up the granite cliff and offered beautiful views of the quarry below. 

Be careful, as you explore, as it's very rocky - there are large chunks of granite strewn around the ground and the terrain can be a bit uneven underfoot. Plus, there are steep drops around most of the cliff edges.

When we visited, there were only a couple of other outdoor lovers like us. And one of them turned out to be a cold-water swimmer. He broke the thin layer of ice that had formed on the water and went for a swim!

We walked around the quarry for about an hour, marvelling at the views everywhere before heading back the way we came.

It was a fairly easy walk, around 20 minutes from the car park to the quarry, an hour to explore the place and another 20 minutes to get back to the car park.