Things To Do near Best Dartmoor Prehistoric Sites

Cholwell Farm Riding Stables, Mary Tavy, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

For an introduction to horse riding in Dartmoor National Park, please click here. Spectacular setting for a stables with top views of Wheal Betsy (National Trust)* and West Dartmoor. The horses are well schooled and forward going and the terrain allows for a varied ride including a faster pace...

Wheal Betsy (National Trust), Mary Tavy, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

An information plaque reads: 'Wheal Betsy. This ancient silver-lead mine was reopened in 1806 and worked successfully for the next seventy years. The mine was worked by water power until 1868 when this building was erected to house a Cornish beam pumping engine. Until its closure in 1877 all pump...

Nattor Down, Mary Tavy, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

Nattor Down is a section of moorland on the edge of Willsworthy Range. The car parking area at Lanehead leads to Nattor Down. You cross Nattor Down to reach the stunning Ger Tor and Tavy Cleave Tors overlooking Tavy Cleave. We've positioned Nattor Down on Google maps. Zoom in on the 'Satelli...

Wheal Emma Leat (Dry Channel), Hexworthy, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

A wheal is a mine. A leat is a man-made waterway used to channel water from, say, a river down to a mine, mill or town/city. Wheal Emma Leat is the now dry channel of a leat built in 1859 that once collected water from near the source of the River Swincombe as it flows past the eastern side of Foxto...

Marchant's Cross, Meavy, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

Marchant's Cross is an impressive Dartmoor cross near Meavy and Lovaton south of Burrator Dam/Burrator Reservoir. Zoom in on the accompanying Google map to see its location. According to the Dartmoor expert Eric Hemery, Marchant's Cross lies on the Plympton to Tavistock Monastic Route. He describ...

Northmore's Cross/Crane Hill Cross Stone (Harvey/OS maps), Princetown, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

A giant chair and stepping stones, a fairy bridge and ancient travel routes have all disappeared from Dartmoor over the years. Sadly, the tiny Northmore's Cross/Crane Hill Cross Stone can now be added to that list. Somebody snapped it off the stone in October 2014. The lump of granite and th...

Ditsworthy Warren, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

Study a map of Dartmoor and you'll see plenty of names with the word 'warren' in them. Perhaps the most well-known example is Headland Warren by The Warren House Inn in the heart of the National Park. Another is Ditsworthy Warren in the Upper Plym Valley in the southern section of Dartmoor. Warre...

Tavy Cleave, Mary Tavy, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

Roughly speaking, Dartmoor National Park consists of two areas of high ground separated by a central bowl. Rain falls on these plateaus, collects in rivers and then flows fast to the Devon coast. Fringing the plateaus are numerous stunning valleys and cleaves. Some of the most beautiful are heavily...

Gutter Tor, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

Gutter Tor is an easily accessible and very impressive collection of outcrops above Sheepstor Brook Ford and Scout Hut Copse east of Sheepstor village and the lower section of Burrator Reservoir. It provides super views of the Upper Plym Valley (English Heritage). We've positioned Gutter Tor on G...

West Dart Head, Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

The River Dart rises in two places on Dartmoor's north plateau. The East Dart River rises at East Dart Head near Cranmere Pool and Whitehorse Hill. The West Dart River rises at West Dart Head near Cut Hill and Fur Tor. To help you identify the source of the West Dart River, we've posi...

Swincombe Reservoir, Hexworthy, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

Most Dartmoor reservoirs are large, impressive and reasonably easily accessible. Swincombe Reservoir is small and fenced off from the public. The moorland around the reservoir is flat, boggy and tussocky. Whilst there's a metal bridge at the eastern end of the reservoir, it's closed to the public so...

Standon Down Settlement, Mary Tavy, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

In his book 'The Field Archaeology of Dartmoor', Phil Newman writes: 'Some hut settlements [on Dartmoor] are unenclosed, but have connecting walls between individual huts. This is a different approach to the arrangements of space around the houses, and shows no apparent need for an outer enclosur...

Ger Tor, Lydford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

Stunning Dartmoor tor overlooking Tavy Cleave Rivers rise on Dartmoor's two plateaux and cut remarkable valleys, gorges and cleaves (Dartmoor word for valley) on the fringes of the moor. Most of these are heavily wooded like the Dart Gorge, Teign Gorge and Lustleigh Cleave. A few are stripped of...

Higher Hartor Tor, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

The Drizzle Combe complex is one of the most important collections of prehistoric sites in Dartmoor and Britain. It's situated on a gentle slope of moorland in the southern section of Dartmoor National Park and is part of the Upper Plym Valley that's managed by, among others, English Heritage.&...

Childe's Tomb and Cross, Princetown, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 5 miles away)

Who was Childe? Whilst hunting on Dartmoor, Childe was overwhelmed by a snowstorm. To survive, he killed his horse, disembowelled it and then climbed inside for shelter. The snowstorm continued and Childe froze to death. Upon the event of his death, it became known that he'd leave his lands at Plyms...