Given countrywide Park standing in 1951, Dartmoor sits in the south of county Devon, southwest England, and covers an area of 365 square miles. Nearly 1/2 of the park is swampland, a nirvana for wildlife and those wanting to escape the pains of town life.
Dartmoor Forest, owned by the Duchy of Cornwall since 1307, is a former royal hunting ground and makes up the overwhelming majority of the region. The grass and heather moors are scattered with hefty granite boulders scattered among the rolling hills. Wild ponies graze among the barren hills ; regardless of running wild, all have human owners and are gathered annually each autumn.
approximately 10% of the moor is wood, much of it running along the tranquil brook valleys. Stone circles and funeral chambers are testament to Dartmoor’s consequential and enigmatic past. Indeed, Dartmoor is famous not for its beautiful landscapes. It was within the small hamlet of Grimspound that Sherlock Holmes found himself inquiring into the hound of the Baskervilles.
Dartmoor was one of Europe’s biggest tin mining areas back in the 12th century. The stone built houses of the miners can still be found along many of the regions streams and streams.
monk’s Way runs across the southern part of the moor, racing across wild country and moorland bogs. The area is assumed to be named after the abbots who are thought to have used this path when travelling between Buckland Abbey and Buckfast Abbey. Man’s presence over the ages is evident in this barren land. Shed circles going back to the Bronze and Iron ages remain today.
South of abbots Way sits Harford Moor. The Middle Ages drew tin miners from far and wide looking for wealth under the surface. Today visitors are drawn by the massive wilderness and wildlife. A medieval cross adorns Harford Church, one out of many in the area which once served as signposts for those travelling across the moors.
Becky Falls woodland Park first opened to the general public in 1903. Some of the most delightful walks in Britain’s southwest can be had here amongst the delightful waterfalls and big granite.
To the west is Upper Plym Valley and a beautiful array of plants and wildlife. The tracks in these parts are rather better to navigate than many others in the moors and provide much of interest along the path. The impressive moorland scenery is interspersed with deserted tin mines dating back over a century and diverse prehistoric relics including stone and shed circles.
To read more about travel topics, visit famouswonders.com and while you are at it, check out Cantebury Cathedral.
