North Hessary Tor and Radio Mast, Princetown, Dartmoor National Park
Princetown sits below a high dome of moorland. At 517m above sea level, this dome is topped with a giant radio mast and a trig point on a rocky outcrop. These are North Hessary Tor and Radio Mast.
The views from the trig point are huge and it's a short, sharp walk from Princetown so we'd very much recommend visiting if you are on holiday in this part of Dartmoor National Park. It's great to combine visits to Princetown National Park Visitor Centre and Dartmoor Prison Museum with this walk. Pop into Fox Tor Cafe afterwards for a cream tea or try The Plume of Feathers Inn if you want something a bit stronger.
We've positioned North Hessary Tor and Radio Mast on Google maps so zoom in on the 'Satellite' setting to see its location.
To visit, start from the car park by Princetown National Park Visitor Centre. Wander up the high street in the direction of Dartmoor Prison. Turn left into Station Road. Before you get to Dartmoor Brewery, the road bends right. A path runs by the wall and fence dividing open access moorland from private land. This takes you to the bottom of the mast and tor with its trig point. Both Station Road and the path are marked and clearly visible on Google's satellite imagery.
For a longer walk, try Princetown, North Hessary Tor and Foggintor Quarries Circular Walk.
As we understand it, the mast was built in the middle of the 1950s. At about 650ft high, it's visible from miles around. Initially, it was used as a television transmitter. Today, it's used to transmit radio across Devon and parts of Cornwall.
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