Harrison's Rocks is a series of

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

crags approximately south of the village of

Groombridge Groombridge is a village of about 1,600 people. It straddles the border between Kent and East Sussex, in England. The nearest large town is Royal Tunbridge Wells, about away by road. The main part of the village ("New Groombridge") lies in t ...

in the county of

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

. The site is a notable example of a

periglacial Periglaciation (adjective: "periglacial", referring to places at the edges of glacial areas) describes geomorphic processes that result from seasonal thawing and freezing, very often in areas of permafrost. The meltwater may refreeze in ice wedg ...

tor Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to: Places * Toronto, Canada ** Toronto Raptors * Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain * Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city * Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano * Tor Bay, Devon, England * Tor ...

landform developed in rocks of the Ardingly Sandstone Member of the

Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation The Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation is a geological unit which forms part of the Wealden Group and the uppermost and youngest part of the unofficial Hastings Beds. These geological units make up the core of the geology of the Weald in the English ...

. It is popular with

rock climbers Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in guidebooks, and o ...

, and is the largest of the cluster of local outcrops known by climbers as Southern Sandstone. Harrison's Rocks is owned by climbers and is managed on their behalf by the

British Mountaineering Council The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the national representative body for England and Wales that exists to protect the freedoms and promote the interests of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers, including ski-mountaineers. The BMC ...

with funding from the

English Sports Council Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded partners, ...

Geology

Harrison's Rocks are a notable example of a

landform, developed in rocks of the

of the

Wealden Supergroup The Wealden Group, occasionally also referred to as the Wealden Supergroup, is a group (a sequence of rock strata) in the lithostratigraphy of southern England. The Wealden group consists of paralic to continental (freshwater) facies sedimentar ...

of early

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

age. Harrison's Rocks is composed of a soft

, which is prone to being worn away.

Climbing

Harrison's Rocks has been owned by the

since 2009, and is managed by a local group of volunteers known as the Harrison's Rocks Management Group. There are approximately four hundred short climbs at Harrison's Rocks, ranging widely in difficulty. Climbing is exclusively protected by means of a "

top rope Top rope climbing (or top roping) is a form of rock climbing where the climber is securely attached to a climbing rope that runs through a fixed anchor at the top of the climbing route, and back down to the belayer (or "second") at the base of t ...

". This is the same as at all Southern Sandstone outcrops. Lead-climbing is prohibited for two main reasons. Firstly, it is dangerous because the rock is too friable; any gear placed in the sandstone cracks would easily rip out in the event of a leader fall. Lead-climbing is also discouraged for reasons of conservation - it is unacceptable for climbers to risk further damage to the thin rock crust on the surface of the crags. Unconsolidated and friable sand lies beneath this crust. Deep rope-grooves can be seen in places at Harrison's Rocks and are testament to the fragility of the rock. All of the climbs are quite short, with the highest at approximately and the lowest at . Most climbs have a ring drilled and set into the rock at the top for setting up a top rope, but some rely on the use of tree trunks for protection.

Filming

In 1981, ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' was filmed at Harrison's Rocks. It was

Peter Davison Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor. He made his television acting debut in 1975 and became famous in 1978 as Tristan Farnon in the BBC's television adaptation of Jame ...

's first transmitted story, '' ''Castrovalva'' (''Doctor Who'')''. In June 1968, the earlier episode ''

The Mind Robber ''The Mind Robber'' is the second serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in five weekly parts from 14 September to 12 October 1968. The serial is set outside of time ...

'' starting

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor. He became best known for his roles in television, most notably starring as the Second Doctor, second incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the lo ...

was filmed here.

Campsite

A campsite was set up at Harrison's Rocks as a memorial to Julie Tullis, a former club member, who died on K2 in August 1986 after reaching the summit with

Kurt Diemberger Kurt Diemberger (born 16 March 1932) is an Austrian mountaineer and author of several books. He is the only living person who has made the first ascents on two mountains over 8,000 metres: of Broad Peak in 1957 and of Dhaulagiri in 1960. In 2013, ...

. The campground is owned and looked after by the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

References

External links