Situated in the very centre of Devon, Dartmoor contains some of the most beautiful scenery in Great Britain. It is the largest area of open country in southern England covering 368 square miles. Dartmoor is cared for and managed by the National Park Authority and is in shared ownership though 37% is common land. The majority of the moor has legal public access and contains 450 miles of public rights of way; nearly half of these are on open moorland. The National Park information centres strategically placed in and around the moor provide visitors with a taste of the rich and diverse features of the area, from ancient standing stones to fascinating market towns and moorland industries. The moorland towns and villages have very individual characters, Princetown being quite bleak with its prison overshadowing the town, Buckland-in-the-Moor being picturesque with thatched cottages and a pretty church. The scenery ranges from wooded valleys and stone bridges to the purple heather on the high moor with its rugged outcrops on the Tors.

Walking is the best way to see all that Dartmoor has to offer, those venturing onto the moor on foot should go well prepared with suitable clothing, map and compass, bearing in mind that Dartmoor weather can turn very quickly. Regular guided walks for all ages and abilities run throughout the year, and during the summer various bus services provide access for those without transport. Welcome refreshment can be found at remote inns, village pubs and tearooms as well as the ice-cream vans, which you will find at the larger car parks.

Dartmoor is a place of antiquity and has a rich history waiting to be discovered by the curious visitor. Across the moor you will find stone rows, hut circles, burial mounds and the remains of a variety of industry. Around 10,000 BC trees, which then covered the moor, were being cleared by wandering hunters to make hunting easier. Around the edge of the moor flint tools from this era have been found. Between 4,500 and 2000 BC Neolithic man continued to clear swathes of woodland for grazing. Burial mounds and stone burial chambers remain from this period.

Most of the stone circles and rows on the moor were put in place between 2000 and 700 BC and provide a fascinating legacy, which is still not fully understood today. Today’s visitor is spoilt for choice when faced with the large amount of stone relics, some of which are easily accessed from convenient car parks and others that require stout boots and a map to search out. From 1700 BC onwards Bronze Age man was farming on the moor and creating basic field systems. By this time most of the trees had been cleared and today there are just a couple of ancient woods, Wistman’s Wood being the most famous. The trees are dwarf-stunted oak. The farmers built simple circular low walled houses, and the remains of over 5000 of these are scattered across the moor. Towards the end of the Bronze Age the climate got colder and the farmers retreated to the lower lands surrounding the moor.

During the Iron Age about a dozen hill fort settlements were built within what is now the National park boundary, the best of which are along the Teign Valley. The Medieval period saw farming villages increase on the moor and the development of the Longhouse, a single building with animal housing at one end and humans at the other. Only a couple of these now survive in their original form and provide a fascinating insight into the harsh existence of medieval farmers.
Much of Dartmoor is scarred with evidence of mining. Tin copper and arsenic were mined for many years, the tin industry being of vital importance to the moor and brought financial security to the ‘Stanary’ towns surrounding the moor where tin was taken to be assayed and sold. There was even an independent parliament which regulated the mining and selling of tin.

Today Dartmoor is still a working landscape and is farmed as it has been for thousands of years. The armed forces train on Dartmoor to experience the extensive remote, rugged landscape and changeable weather. It provides the military with some of the most challenging environments in the United Kingdom and is a valued training area. Valleys have been dammed on the moor to create reservoirs to supply water to South Devon; although man-made these now enhance the landscape.
Dartmoor has been the inspiration for many authors artists and musicians. The most famous novel about the moor is naturally Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Hound of the Baskervilles. Other authors include Beatrice Chase, Eden Phillpotts, William Crossing and Hansford Worth. Today there is a group of Moor Poets who publish regularly and whos work is becoming well known. Artists include William Widgery and his son Frederick John. Our most well known musician is Seth Lakeman a singer and songwriter born at Yelverton. The moor and its legends have inspired many of his songs.

Dartmoor offers the visitor many places to stay from which to explore the diversity of the moor. From cosy farmhouse bed and breakfast to grand hotel, village inn to self-catering cottage there is a wide choice of places from which to set out and explore the moor. Spend time in a place where the only sounds are the skylark high above or bees buzzing in the heather: a place where you can leave your car and walk for miles onto the open moor meeting only sheep and ponies. Truly Dartmoor is a place like no other.

Timestep Electronics Ltd
PO Box 2001  Dartmouth Devon  TQ6 9QN
Tel: 01803 833366  Fax: 01803 839498   e-mail click here

15 January 2010