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Dartmoor

Dartmoor

For most of us Dartmoor is defined by the famous "tors" of hard granite - which top the huge heather and bracken clad hills, rising to almost 2000 feet above sea level, a landscape veined by rushing watercourses, and strewn with granite boulder. It is a rare survivor of a landscape not much altered for thousands of years. Yet Dartmoor is essentially an abandoned agricultural and industrial landscape dating from as early as the Bronze age, and its value to archaeologists and historians is incalculable.

From about 3000BC onwards, as farming communities settled the area, and the moor acquired its treasure trove of prehistoric archaeological artefacts. The stone rows and circles built by these early communities are wonderful places to stir the imagination. Visit Grimspound to see a Bronze age settlement, and Stall Moor for a stone circle and the longest stone row on the moor (over 3Km!).

A change in the climate around 1000BC undermined the viability of the soil and the moors were abandoned, remaining little used for nearly 1500 years until the next phase of significant activity began with the woollen trade and the discovery of tin in the 12th century. From these times right up until the 20th century, mining for tin, arsenic and copper, quarrying for stone, and sheep farming have been the major features of moorland life.

When these industries failed in the late Victorian period, the moor fell silent again, and its amenity value as a wilderness and rich historical environment, led eventually to the foundation of the Dartmoor National Park in 1951. The Park Authority continues to administer the moor, and manage the demand for the space and tranquility so important to balance our pressured lifestyles.

For more information on Dartmoor, click on ponies, legends, tors, walking, villages and safety on the left hand side of the screen.