An interesting and famous tor, The Cheesewring has attracted interest and comments since before Victorian times. An easy walk from the parking area and nearby visitor centre, it can easily be extended to take in the wider area.

Located near the village of Minions on the southern side of Bodmin Moor, The Cheesewring is a natural granite outcrop, appearing as a stack of precariously balanced flat boulders over thirty feet (10 metres) high.

The uppermost boulders increase in size as they stack up, overhanging the stones below, and appearing to be delicately placed on top of each other. The Cheeswring's appearance as a set of separate stacked boulders mark it apart from the more 'solid-looking' tors typically seen on Bodmin Moor.

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Tor Formation

The Cheesewring is a result of weathering over millions of years. The precise mechanism is uncertain, however it is likely that the granite that intruded into the surrounding slate (over 250 million years ago) has been subject to thermal stress and chemical weathering processes, opening up fissures and cracks in the granite.

Q1. What could have caused the chemical weathering 250 million years ago?

The next phase of weathering occurred around 40 million years ago, when tropical conditions existed in what was to become mainland Britain. The action of plants (biological weathering) and further chemical weathering deepened fissures and removed softer material such as the surrounding slate.

Q2. How do you think plants might have managed to affect rocks (biological weathering)?

 More recently, during the successive ice ages between 2 million and 10,000 years ago, weathering processes have been more rapid. Although the ice sheet did not reach as far as Cornwall, severe conditions further fractured the rock and displaced boulders as 'clitter' down the slopes.

The result is that the hard granite 'stumps' that remain appear as tors with slate dominating at lower elevations (less than 2 miles away and 100 metres below the exposed granite of Cheesewring, slate predominates at the village of Upton Cross).

Q3. What process could have occurred during the ice age that could split rocks apart? What evidence can you see on the rocks around the Cheesewring?

There are several other granite outcrops at the top of Stowes Hill that you may like to explore (about 80 to 100m away, the waymark 'ST' (below) will guide you there).

Q4. On some of the horizontal rock surfaces you will find shallow depressions known as Druid's Basins; How do you think these might have been formed? (Hint - these are not man made!)

Resources

Geological processes over the last 400 million years have given rise to Cornwall's distinctive geology, and its mineral wealth. The legacy of the exploitation of this mineral legacy is still evident all around the surrounding area of Caradon Hill in the form of mines and quarries.

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• Cornwall Wildlife trust produce an excellent downloadable booklet, Bodmin Moor - 400 million years in the making (also available in Dutch, German, French and Spanish)

• Close to the edge of quarry at N50° 31.465' W004° 27.542' lies Daniel Gumb's cave, a renowned local stonemason and storyteller. You may wish to have a look!

• The expansion of the adjacent Cheesewring Quarry in the nineteenth century became such a concern that the Cheesewring was propped up to prevent it from toppling over!