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Geography and History
'The Fairy Bridge' across the River Swincombe
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers 954 square kilometres (368 sq mi).
The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The highest point is High Willhays, 621 m (2,037 ft) above sea level. The entire area is rich in antiquities and archaeology.
Dartmoor is managed by the Dartmoor National Park Authority whose 22 members are drawn from Devon County Council, local district councils and Government.
Parts of Dartmoor have been used as military firing ranges for over 200 years. The public enjoy extensive access rights to Dartmoor (including restricted access to the firing ranges) and it is a popular tourist destination. The organisation responsible for tourism on Dartmoor is the Dartmoor Partnership.
Dartmoor is known for its tors — hills topped with outcrops of bedrock, which in granite country such as this are usually rounded boulder-like formations. More than 160 of the hills of Dartmoor have the word tor in their name but quite a number do not.
However this does not appear to relate to whether or not there is an outcrop of rock on their summit. The tors are the focus of an annual event known as the Ten Tors Challenge, when around 2400 people aged between 14 and 19 walk for distances of 56, 72 or 88 km (35, 45 or 55 mi) between ten tors on many differing routes.
HIGH POINTS
The highest points on Dartmoor are on the northern moor: High Willhays, 621 m (2,037 ft), (grid reference SX580895) and Yes Tor, 619 m (2,031 ft), (grid reference SX581901) The highest points on the southern moor are Ryder's Hill, 515 m (1,690 ft), (grid reference SX660690) - not that far from us - Snowdon 495 m (1,624 ft), (grid reference SX668684), and an unnamed point of 493 m (1,617 ft) at (grid reference SX603645). Probably the best known tor on Dartmoor is Haytor (also spelt Hey Tor), 457 m (1,499 ft), (grid reference SX757771). For a more complete list see List of Dartmoor tors and hills.
RIVERS
The high ground of Dartmoor forms the catchment area for many of Devon's rivers. As well as shaping the landscape, these have traditionally provided a source of power for moor industries such as tin mining and quarrying.
The moor takes its name from the River Dart, which starts as the East Dart and West Dart (just down the Swincombe from us), and then becomes a single river at Dartmeet. It leaves the moor at Buckfastleigh, flowing through Totnes below where it opens up into a long ria, reaching the sea at Dartmouth.
BOGS
Much more rain falls on Dartmoor than in the surrounding lowlands. As much of the national park is covered in thick layers of peat (decaying vegetation), the rain is usually absorbed quickly and distributed slowly, so the moor is rarely dry. In areas where water accumulates, dangerous bogs or mires can result. Some of these, topped with bright green moss, are known to locals as "feather beds" or "quakers", because they shift (or 'quake') beneath your feet. Quakers result from sphagnum moss growing over the water that accumulates in the hollows in the granite.
The vegetation of the bogs depends on the type and location. Blanket bog, which forms on the highest land where the rainfall exceeds 2,000 mm (80 in) a year, consists mainly of cotton-grass (Eriophorum species), sedges (Carex and Rhynchospora), Bog Asphodel and Common Tormentil, with Sphagnum thriving in the wettest patches. The valley bogs have lush growth of rushes, with sphagnum, cross-leaved heath, sundews and several other species.
Some of the bogs on Dartmoor have achieved notoriety. Fox Tor Mires (just up the Swincombe from us) was supposedly the inspiration for Great Grimpen Mire in Conan Doyle's novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, although there is a waymarked footpath across it. Sabine Baring-Gould, in his Book of Dartmoor (1900) related the story of a man who was making his way through Aune Mire at the head of the River Avon when he came upon a top-hat brim down on the surface of the mire. He kicked it, whereupon a voice called out: "What be you a-doin' to my 'at?" The man replied, "Be there now a chap under'n?" "Ees, I reckon," was the reply, "and a hoss under me likewise."
CLIMATE
Along with the rest of South West England, Dartmoor has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than locations at similar height in the rest of England. At Princetown, near the centre of the moor at a height of 453 metres (1,486 ft), January and February are the coldest months with mean minimum temperatures around 1°C (34°F). July and August are the warmest months with mean daily maxima not reaching 18°C (64°F). Compared with Teignmouth, which is on the coast about 22 miles (35 km) to the east, the average maximum and minimum temperatures are 3.0°C and 2.6°C lower respectively, and frost is at least five times as frequent. On the highest ground, in the north of the moor, the growing season is less than 175 days – this contrasts with some 300 days along most of the south coast of the county.[
Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. In summer, convection caused by solar surface heating sometimes forms shower clouds and a large proportion of rainfall falls from showers and thunderstorms at this time of year. The wettest months are November and December and on the highest parts of the moor the average annual total rainfall is over 2000 mm (about 80 in). This compares with less than 800 mm (31.5 in) in the lower land to the east around the Exe Estuary, which is in the rain shadow of the moor. Due to the influence of the Gulf Stream snowfall is not common, though due to its high altitude it is more vulnerable to snowfall than surrounding regions.
OWNERSHIP AND ACCESS
Over half of Dartmoor National Park (57.3%) is private land; the Forest of Dartmoor being the major part of this, owned by the Duke of Cornwall. The Ministry of Defence owns 14%, 3.8% is owned by water companies (see Dartmoor reservoirs), 3.7% by the National Trust, 1.8% by the Forestry Commission and 1.4% by Dartmoor's national park authority. About 37% of Dartmoor is common land.
Dartmoor differs from some other National Parks in England and Wales, in that since the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 much of it has been designated as 'Access Land', which, although it remains privately owned, has no restrictions on where walkers can roam. In addition to this Access Land, there are about 730 km (454 mi) of public rights of way on Dartmoor, and many kilometres of permitted footpaths and bridleways where the owner allows access.
Dartmoor has a resident population of about 33,000, which swells considerably during holiday periods with incoming tourists. The largest settlements within the National Park are Ashburton (the largest with population about 3,500), Buckfastleigh, Moretonhampstead, Princetown, Yelverton, Horrabridge, South Brent, Christow and Chagford.
The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The highest point is High Willhays, 621 m (2,037 ft) above sea level. The entire area is rich in antiquities and archaeology.
Dartmoor is managed by the Dartmoor National Park Authority whose 22 members are drawn from Devon County Council, local district councils and Government.
Parts of Dartmoor have been used as military firing ranges for over 200 years. The public enjoy extensive access rights to Dartmoor (including restricted access to the firing ranges) and it is a popular tourist destination. The organisation responsible for tourism on Dartmoor is the Dartmoor Partnership.
Dartmoor is known for its tors — hills topped with outcrops of bedrock, which in granite country such as this are usually rounded boulder-like formations. More than 160 of the hills of Dartmoor have the word tor in their name but quite a number do not.
However this does not appear to relate to whether or not there is an outcrop of rock on their summit. The tors are the focus of an annual event known as the Ten Tors Challenge, when around 2400 people aged between 14 and 19 walk for distances of 56, 72 or 88 km (35, 45 or 55 mi) between ten tors on many differing routes.
HIGH POINTS
The highest points on Dartmoor are on the northern moor: High Willhays, 621 m (2,037 ft), (grid reference SX580895) and Yes Tor, 619 m (2,031 ft), (grid reference SX581901) The highest points on the southern moor are Ryder's Hill, 515 m (1,690 ft), (grid reference SX660690) - not that far from us - Snowdon 495 m (1,624 ft), (grid reference SX668684), and an unnamed point of 493 m (1,617 ft) at (grid reference SX603645). Probably the best known tor on Dartmoor is Haytor (also spelt Hey Tor), 457 m (1,499 ft), (grid reference SX757771). For a more complete list see List of Dartmoor tors and hills.
RIVERS
The high ground of Dartmoor forms the catchment area for many of Devon's rivers. As well as shaping the landscape, these have traditionally provided a source of power for moor industries such as tin mining and quarrying.
The moor takes its name from the River Dart, which starts as the East Dart and West Dart (just down the Swincombe from us), and then becomes a single river at Dartmeet. It leaves the moor at Buckfastleigh, flowing through Totnes below where it opens up into a long ria, reaching the sea at Dartmouth.
BOGS
Much more rain falls on Dartmoor than in the surrounding lowlands. As much of the national park is covered in thick layers of peat (decaying vegetation), the rain is usually absorbed quickly and distributed slowly, so the moor is rarely dry. In areas where water accumulates, dangerous bogs or mires can result. Some of these, topped with bright green moss, are known to locals as "feather beds" or "quakers", because they shift (or 'quake') beneath your feet. Quakers result from sphagnum moss growing over the water that accumulates in the hollows in the granite.
The vegetation of the bogs depends on the type and location. Blanket bog, which forms on the highest land where the rainfall exceeds 2,000 mm (80 in) a year, consists mainly of cotton-grass (Eriophorum species), sedges (Carex and Rhynchospora), Bog Asphodel and Common Tormentil, with Sphagnum thriving in the wettest patches. The valley bogs have lush growth of rushes, with sphagnum, cross-leaved heath, sundews and several other species.
Some of the bogs on Dartmoor have achieved notoriety. Fox Tor Mires (just up the Swincombe from us) was supposedly the inspiration for Great Grimpen Mire in Conan Doyle's novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, although there is a waymarked footpath across it. Sabine Baring-Gould, in his Book of Dartmoor (1900) related the story of a man who was making his way through Aune Mire at the head of the River Avon when he came upon a top-hat brim down on the surface of the mire. He kicked it, whereupon a voice called out: "What be you a-doin' to my 'at?" The man replied, "Be there now a chap under'n?" "Ees, I reckon," was the reply, "and a hoss under me likewise."
CLIMATE
Along with the rest of South West England, Dartmoor has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than locations at similar height in the rest of England. At Princetown, near the centre of the moor at a height of 453 metres (1,486 ft), January and February are the coldest months with mean minimum temperatures around 1°C (34°F). July and August are the warmest months with mean daily maxima not reaching 18°C (64°F). Compared with Teignmouth, which is on the coast about 22 miles (35 km) to the east, the average maximum and minimum temperatures are 3.0°C and 2.6°C lower respectively, and frost is at least five times as frequent. On the highest ground, in the north of the moor, the growing season is less than 175 days – this contrasts with some 300 days along most of the south coast of the county.[
Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. In summer, convection caused by solar surface heating sometimes forms shower clouds and a large proportion of rainfall falls from showers and thunderstorms at this time of year. The wettest months are November and December and on the highest parts of the moor the average annual total rainfall is over 2000 mm (about 80 in). This compares with less than 800 mm (31.5 in) in the lower land to the east around the Exe Estuary, which is in the rain shadow of the moor. Due to the influence of the Gulf Stream snowfall is not common, though due to its high altitude it is more vulnerable to snowfall than surrounding regions.
OWNERSHIP AND ACCESS
Over half of Dartmoor National Park (57.3%) is private land; the Forest of Dartmoor being the major part of this, owned by the Duke of Cornwall. The Ministry of Defence owns 14%, 3.8% is owned by water companies (see Dartmoor reservoirs), 3.7% by the National Trust, 1.8% by the Forestry Commission and 1.4% by Dartmoor's national park authority. About 37% of Dartmoor is common land.
Dartmoor differs from some other National Parks in England and Wales, in that since the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 much of it has been designated as 'Access Land', which, although it remains privately owned, has no restrictions on where walkers can roam. In addition to this Access Land, there are about 730 km (454 mi) of public rights of way on Dartmoor, and many kilometres of permitted footpaths and bridleways where the owner allows access.
Dartmoor has a resident population of about 33,000, which swells considerably during holiday periods with incoming tourists. The largest settlements within the National Park are Ashburton (the largest with population about 3,500), Buckfastleigh, Moretonhampstead, Princetown, Yelverton, Horrabridge, South Brent, Christow and Chagford.
Dartmoor Spookiness and Legend
Princetown Prison
Just an hour's walk across the moor stands the town of Princetown, the site of the notorious Dartmoor Prison, which was originally built both by, and for, prisoners of war from the Napoleonic Wars. The prison has a (now misplaced)reputation for being escape-proof, due to both the buildings themselves and its physical location.
The Dartmoor landscape is scattered with the marks left by the many generations who have lived and worked there over the centuries — such as the remains of the once mighty Dartmoor tin-mining industry, and farmhouses long since abandoned, such as Swincombe Farm ruins, just across the Fairy Bridge. Part of this was still being used as a holiday home in the 1970s, before it burned down.
Dartmoor abounds with myths and legends. It is reputedly the haunt of pixies, a headless horseman, a mysterious pack of "spectral hounds", and a large black dog. During the Great Thunderstorm of 1638, the Dartmoor town of Widecombe-in-the-moor was even said to have been visited by the Devil.
Many landmarks have ancient legends and ghost stories associated with them, such as Jay's Grave, the ancient burial site at Childe's Tomb (not far from us), the rock pile called Bowerman's Nose, and the stone crosses that mark medieval routes across the moor.
A few stories have emerged in recent decades, such as the "hairy hands", that are said to attack travellers on the B3212 near Two Bridges;[16] and the "Beast of Dartmoor", a supposed large cat. Dartmoor has inspired a number of artists and writers, such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventure of Silver Blaze, R. D. Blackmore, Eden Phillpotts, Beatrice Chase, Agatha Christie, Rosamunde Pilcher, Laurie King, and the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould.
The Dartmoor landscape is scattered with the marks left by the many generations who have lived and worked there over the centuries — such as the remains of the once mighty Dartmoor tin-mining industry, and farmhouses long since abandoned, such as Swincombe Farm ruins, just across the Fairy Bridge. Part of this was still being used as a holiday home in the 1970s, before it burned down.
Dartmoor abounds with myths and legends. It is reputedly the haunt of pixies, a headless horseman, a mysterious pack of "spectral hounds", and a large black dog. During the Great Thunderstorm of 1638, the Dartmoor town of Widecombe-in-the-moor was even said to have been visited by the Devil.
Many landmarks have ancient legends and ghost stories associated with them, such as Jay's Grave, the ancient burial site at Childe's Tomb (not far from us), the rock pile called Bowerman's Nose, and the stone crosses that mark medieval routes across the moor.
A few stories have emerged in recent decades, such as the "hairy hands", that are said to attack travellers on the B3212 near Two Bridges;[16] and the "Beast of Dartmoor", a supposed large cat. Dartmoor has inspired a number of artists and writers, such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventure of Silver Blaze, R. D. Blackmore, Eden Phillpotts, Beatrice Chase, Agatha Christie, Rosamunde Pilcher, Laurie King, and the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould.
Wydemeet, Central Dartmoor, Hexworthy, Yelverton, Devon, PL20 6SF
info@wydemeet-dartmoor.com |
+44 (0)1364 631390 |