Things To Do near West Dart Head
Okehampton Common, Okehampton, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
According to Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA), 'common land covers about 37% of the Dartmoor National Park'. Okehampton Common covers the high ground above Okehampton in the north western section of the National Park. Roughly speaking, Okehampton Common runs from Okehampton Camp past Yes Tor...
Battle of Lydford Battlefield, Lydford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
In 997 AD, as recorded in the 'The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', a Viking army sailed up the River Tamar 'until they came to Lydford, and burned and killed everything that they met, and burned down Ordwulf's monastery at Tavistock, and brought indescribable war-booty with them to the ships.' The...
Gidleigh Holy Trinity Church, Gidleigh, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
The north and eastern fringes of Dartmoor's north moor are lined with villages and hamlets and their churches. Moving clockwise, the towers of Belstone, South Tawton, Throwleigh and then Gidleigh churches rise against the backdrop of high moorland. Gidleigh Holy Trinity Church is...
Hookney Tor, Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
English Heritage's Grimspound sits in a saddle of moorland below two tors. Hameldown Tor is to the south east. The superb stacks of granite that form Hookney Tor are to the north west. Hookney Down pushes east to King Tor and is beautiful when covered in heather in late summer. Headland Warren Farm...
Lydford Viking Rune Stone, Lydford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
'VIKINGS 997-1997. The stone was raised when the men of the North came again, this time in peace. Erik the Red carved the runes.' The stone is just across the road from the Battle of Lydford Memorial. Both commemorate a battle that took place between invading Vikings and Saxons defending the fortifi...
Lydford Castle (English Heritage), Lydford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
Lydford Castle is an English Heritage property at the heart of a beautiful and historically important village on the western border of Dartmoor National Park. According to English Heritage, 'Lydford Castle was probably built about 1195 to serve as a prison'. During the medieval period, conditions at...
Battle of Lydford Memorial, Lydford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
Near English Heritage's Lydford Castle (English Heritage), across the road from Lydford St Petroc's Church, is a distinctive memorial topped by a Viking axe crossing a Saxon shield. This marks the 'SITE OF DANISH SAXON CONFLICT. 997 AD'. The following is taken from 'The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' edi...
Gidleigh Castle (Landmark Only), Gidleigh, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
An information leaflet from the church next door to the castle reads: 'Gidleigh Castle dates from about 1324 and was built over an earlier castle by William le Prouz, a powerful knight and overlord in the district. It was never a true castle in the military sense, but rather a fortified manor hou...
Lydford St Petroc's Church, Lydford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
An information card in the church reads: 'The Saxon wood and thatch church was built about 650AD and was destroyed by the Viking invaders in 997AD. The pre-Norman Font remains from this early church. The church was rebuilt in stone and is recorded in July 1237 in the reign of Henry III when the r...
Shapley Tor, Moretonhampstead, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
Some Dartmoor tors are big and dramatic stacks of granite that command the surrounding landscape. Others are small and rather unassuming. Shapley Tor is among the latter. A scatter of granite towards the top of Shapley Common, it's one of those tors you tend to pass through on your way to another...
Whitchurch Common, Merrivale, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
Zoom in on the 'Satellite' setting of the accompanying Google map and you'll see lots of grass paths and tracks crossing moorland. These give you a sense of the popularity of Whitchuch Common. Other clues are provided by the size of the car parking area by the B3357 and the fact that the area is a w...
Lydford The Norman Castle, Lydford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
An information board on site reads: 'The earthwork is all that remains of a small Norman castle which was probably built in the late 11th century in the years of consolidation after the Norman conquest. It holds a dominant position in the corner of the defended Saxon town. The castle was a 'ri...
Hart Tor, Princetown, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
A high number of tors circle Princetown. Some, like Great Mis Tor, are dramatic. Others, like Little Mis Tor, are more understated. Hart Tor is one of the latter. A relatively small rocky outcrop, it sits on a spur of land between the upper section of the River Meavy and Hart Tor Brook about a mile...
Swincombe, Hexworthy, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
Swincombe is a collection of ruined, disused buildings just west of Hexworthy. It's named on the Harvey British Mountain Map 'Dartmoor' map. The buildings are drawn on an area of private land on the Ordnance Survey Explorer OL28 'Dartmoor' map but not named. Swincombe consists of Higher/Upper and...
Homerton Hill, Okehampton, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 6 miles away)
Homerton is one of the hills surrounding Meldon Reservoir near the north western border of Dartmoor National Park. A popular path skirts the north and west sides of the hill around the reservoir and leads from the dam to Vellake Corner and then up to Black-a-Tor Copse National Nature Reserve. We'...