Historical Sites in Dartmoor National Park
Dartmoor Prison, Princetown, Dartmoor National Park
Drive the B3212 from Two Bridges to Princetown and you come to a lay-by offering views of the formidable Dartmoor Prison. Today, it's a prison housing low risk inmates. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was built to house French and American prisoners of war. During the Napoleonic Wars, Fr...
Eastern White Barrow, South Brent, Dartmoor National Park
This is arguably the most distinctive barrow in Dartmoor National Park. Many barrows are larger. None has such an exaggerated shape. The views from the top are immense. It's also relatively easy to get to. We've positioned Eastern White Barrow on Google maps. Zoom in on the 'Satellite' setting to...
Western White Barrow, South Brent, Dartmoor National Park
There are two White Barrows above the Avon Dam Reservoir on Dartmoor's south moor. Eastern White Barrow is an extraordinary shape. Western White Barrow is less remarkable. Zeal Tor Tramway (Dismantled) and the Red Lake Railway (Dismatled)/Puffing Billy Track run nearby. The latter is the route of th...
Eylesbarrow, Princetown, Dartmoor National Park
A section of the old Jobbers' Road runs between Princetown and Sheepstor. At Nun's or Siward's Cross, the path climbs to the extensive remains of Eylesbarrow Tin Min before descending to Sheepstor Brook Ford and Scout Hut Copse below Gutter Tor. Up by Eylesbarrow Tin Mine, just off the Jobbers' Road...
Harford Moor Gate, Harford, Dartmoor National Park
Temporarily closed Harford Moor Gate car park is temporarily closed. A sign reads: 'Car park closed. This car park is on privately owned access land. It has been closed from February 2021. This has been done for two reasons. To help control footfall on this part of the moor. T...
Drizzle Combe Settlements, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park
Look at the Upper Plym Valley area (follow the River Plym upstream from Cadover Bridge to Plym Head) on the Ordnance Survey Explorer OL28 'Dartmoor' map and you'll see a high number of settlements. By Drizzle Combe, there are the remains of a large settlement at Whittenknowles Rocks a...
Merrivale Cists, Merrivale, Dartmoor National Park
There are many burial cairns at Merrivale. In addition, there are two cists. A cist is a bit like a granite coffin. On Dartmoor, cists come in all shapes and sizes. One of the National Park's largest cists is just south of the largest stone row at Merrivale. One of Dartmoor's most dramatic is situat...
Hemsworthy Gate, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park
We include Hemsworthy Gate on 'Holiday in Dartmoor' as a reference point. As is the case with Nun's Cross Farm and Batworthy Corner, it's a great starting point from which to discover Dartmoor's landscape and history. There's a small car parking area and paths run off in all...
Wittaburrow, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park
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...
Broad Barrow, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park
Numerous cairns and barrows run along the spine of the vast Hamel Down. Broad Barrow sits on the highest ground 532 metres above sea level. The views up top are awesome. It's a particularly impressive place when the heather and gorse flower purple and yellow in early Autumn. A barrow is a mound o...
Single Barrow, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park
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...
Lanehead, Mary Tavy, Dartmoor National Park
Lanehead is a car parking area on the western side of Dartmoor. Just up the road from Mary Tavy, Lanehead provides excellent access to some of the best tors and high moorland in this section of the National Park. It's also by the stunning Tavy Cleave. We include Lanehead on this site as a point of r...
Two Barrows, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park
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...
Grey Wethers and Blue Jug, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park
'The stream on the eastern side of the hill forms the boundary between the common lands of Manaton and Widecombe, and this is drawn from its head to Hameldon Cross, the space between the two being marked by a couple of bondstones, the lower one being called Blue Jug, and the other the Grey Wethe...
Berry Pound, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park
'On the Widecombe side of the little stream, which runs through a hollow, is the enclosure known as Berry Pound ... The area covered is very much smaller than that occupied by Grim's Pound, and the vallum is low and not of great width'.