The Haytor Granite Tramway (also called Heytor) was a tramway built to convey granite from Haytor Down, Dartmoor, Devon to the Stover Canal. It was very unusual in that the track was formed of granite sections, shaped to guide the wheels of horse-drawn wagons. It was built in 1820; the granite was in demand in the developing cities of England as masonry to construct public buildings and bridges. In 1850 the quarries employed about 100 men but by 1858 they had closed due to the availability of cheaper Cornish granite. The Haytor rocks and quarries are protected from development and disturbance as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Operation and purpose The granite from the quarries near Haytor Rock was much in demand for construction work in the cities of England, but in an era when railways and reliable roads had not yet been developed, the transport of this heavy and bulky commodity was a significant problem. Coastal shipping was a practicable transport medium, and the Stover Canal was available from Ventiford to the Teign Navigation. The Haytor Tramway was constructed to carry the granite the to the canal, which involved a falling vertical interval of to the basin of the Stover Canal. Its form was a close relative of a plateway, where longitudinal L-shaped metal plates were used to support and guide the wheels of wagons. In the Haytor case, the "plates" were cut from granite blocks. The blocks were from to long and about square. The outer surface of the blocks was cut away to make the track leaving an upstand which guided the wheels of the wagons. The track was laid with the upstand inside the wheels, and the gauge is measured across the two faces of the upstand. The track surface averaged in width but could be up to . As the wagons had plain wheels without flanges, they could be manouevred at the terminals without the need for sidings and points. The gauge of the track was but varied by up to , and at junctions the wheels were guided by 'point tongues', pivoted on the granite-block rails. Authorities differ on whether the point tongues were oak or iron. In the upward direction, the empty tram wagons were pulled to the quarries by teams of horses; the loaded trams were run downhill by gravity to the Stover Canal basin at Ventiford, Teigngrace. The route was