Things To Do near Exeter
Hamel Down, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 miles away)
Drive along the A30 that skirts the northern boundary of Dartmoor National Park and you'll see the unmistakable dome of Cosdon Hill topped by Cosdon Beacon. Further south, towards the heart of the National Park is the equally vast Hamel Down topped by a tor, barrows and its own beacon. The views fro...
Round Pound, Gidleigh Park and Scorhill Stone Circle Circular Walk, Gidleigh, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 miles away)
This is a beautiful walk in the Chagford area taking in high moor, wooded valley and some of Dartmoor's best prehistory. As ever, we'd recommend you plan this walk using the Ordnance Survey Explorer OL28 'Dartmoor' map in conjunction with our photographs and Google mapping. Start by Bat...
Single Barrow, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 miles away)
The Dartmoor expert William Crossing writes 'this tumulus was opened in 1873 by the late Mr. C. Spence Bate, and was found to consist of earth with the exception of a low hedge of stones which encircled it, and a low cairn in the centre. About six feet from the latter a small heap of burnt human...
Blackslade Down, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 miles away)
According to the Dartmoor expert William Crossing, it was on Blackslade Down 'that the wicked Jan Reynolds once entered into a compact with a stranger, who turned out to be the Prince of Darkness, and failing to keep it became his victim. Seven years after the meeting Jan was discovered indulgin...
Two Barrows, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 miles away)
There's a display cabinet in Postbridge National Park Visitor Centre which contains a replica of the Hameldon Dagger or Hamel Down Dagger. The display reads: 'Hameldon dagger. In 1872 the original dagger was found with a burial of burnt human bones in a cairn or barrow at Hameldon. It cons...
Hameldown Beacon, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 miles away)
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a beacon as 'a fire or light set up in a high or prominent position as a warning, signal, or celebration’. There is a chain of beacons on Dartmoor running from the edge of the north moor down to the edge of the south moor. Hameldown Beacon is, roughly spe...
South Teign River, Chagford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 miles away)
The River Teign is one of Dartmoor National Park's most beautiful waterways. It skirts Chagford and flows through the stunning Teign Gorge (National Trust) to the Teign Valley. Study the the Harvey British Mountain Map 'Dartmoor' map and you'll see that the River Teign rises at two places on Dart...
Mariners' Way in Dartmoor, Dartmoor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 miles away)
The Mariners' Way runs between Dartmouth on the South Devon coast and Bideford on the North Devon coast. Mariners walked the route to work on the ships at these Devon ports. This listing covers the Mariners' Way in Dartmoor National Park. Among the highlights of this route are the ancient farms t...
Tunhill Rocks, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 miles away)
Tunhill Rocks is the most dramatic tor on Blackslade Down. A jumble of giant, rocky outcrops located on moorland that drops down reasonably steeply to farmland and hamlets south of Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Tunhill Rocks is just south west of Pil Tor. The prehistoric barrow Wittaburrow is a short strol...
Gidleigh Holy Trinity Church, Gidleigh, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 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...
Gidleigh Park (North/South Park), Gidleigh, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 miles away)
Gidleigh Park Hotel is widely recognised as being one of the best hotels in the UK. It's located in beautiful, wooded landscape on the fringe of the high moors near the Dartmoor National Park gateway town Chagford. The woodland is called Gidleigh Park and a section of the Mariners' Way runs through...
Throwleigh St Mary the Virgin Church, Throwleigh, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 miles away)
According to the 'Church of St Mary the Virgin Throwleigh' guide, 'the first recorded rector was in 1248, but most of the present church dates from the 15th and 16th centuries'. On the edge of Dartmoor's high north moor, the church is close to Shilstone Tor and the vast bulk of Cosdon Hill which is...
Gidleigh Castle (Landmark Only), Gidleigh, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 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...
Gidleigh Tor, Gidleigh, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 miles away)
One for the Dartmoor tor bagger, Gidleigh Tor is a small rocky outcrop situated between Scorhill Gorge and Gidleigh near the edge of the National Park's north moor. If you're walking a section of the Mariner's Way, it's a nice place to stop for a rest. There's also room for a car or two by the path...
Wittaburrow, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 16 miles away)
In his excellent 'The Field Archaeology of Dartmoor', Phil Newman notes that 'the term 'barrow' may be defined as a mound of earth or stone, usually covering one or more inhumations or cremations. On Dartmoor, where the majority of these monuments are constructed mostly from ston...