Dartmoor Towns and villages.
As you travel around Dartmoor, passing through its many towns and villages, you will discover another side to this unique part of Devon. Busy towns like Ashburton,
Tavistock,
Moretonhampstead
and Chagford stand at the edge, welcoming you into the delights Dartmoor has to offer.
As I explore each town and village on my photography expeditions , I get a sense that they all seem to have found a way of cleverly holding back the chaos of modern life - without feeling left behind. The perfect balance ! Below is a list of towns and villages, with a brief description of each to give an idea of what to expect. Belstone : Standing at the northern tip of the open moor. Bovey Tracey : Home of the Dartmoor National Park Authority. Brentor : With its famous church on top of the Tor. Bridestowe : Totally unspoiled on the western edge of dartmoor. A village of stone and slate cottages, and a fine 15th century parish church. Once the home of tin and copper miners, farm, peat and railway workers, and farm labourers. Buckfast : A charming place of narrow streets, with BUCKFAST ABBEY just up the road. Chagford : A magnet for visitors from all over the world. Drewsteignton : A peaceful village with a famous thatched roof inn. Gidleigh : Home of the world renowned GIDLEIGH PARK HOTEL - an experience never to be forgotten ! http://www.gidleigh.com/ Haytor : Not built until the late 1820's for workers on Haytor Down. Now a picturesque row of cottages. Holne : A quiet village, thought of as remote due to the fact it lies off a minor road accross the moor. Visitors are well catered for. Author Charles Kingsley, was born in the rectory here in 1819. Ivybridge : Ivybridge is a small town about 9 miles (14.5 km) east of Plymouth. It is at the southern extremity of Dartmoor, and lies along the A38 "Devon Expressway" road. Lee Moor : Situated just outside the national park boundary. Exists for the china-clay workings. Lustleigh : A pleasant village with a long history. Bronze age hut circles and an iron Age fort have been found within the parish bounds. Look for the throne of the May Queen, cemented on to a huge boulder in the Town Orchard. Lydford : Known for its infamous castle where, in the Middle Ages, harsh punishment was dealt to anyone found extracting tin without authority. Manaton : Manaton village is the centre of one of Dartmoor's largest parishes. Poet John Galsworthy made his home here at "Wingstone", near the 15th century Church of St Winifred. For further information, please visit http://www.manaton.org.uk/ Mary Tavy : Mary Tavy is a village with a population of around 600, located four miles north of Tavistock in Devon It used to be home to the world's largest copper mine Wheal Friendship, as well as a number of lead and tin mines. The village lies a mile or two north of Peter Tavy. Both were shown as separate settlements in the Domesday Book of 1086. To deter highwaymen from attacking travellers along the road between Tavistock and Okehampton, captured robbers were hanged on what is now known as 'Gibbet Hill'. Moretonhampstead : Click for more information. Okehampton : Okehampton is a town and civil parish at the northern edge of Dartmoor, on the River Okement, and grew on the Medieval wool trade. Notable buildings in the town include the 15th century chapel of St. James, and Okehampton Castle. There is the site of a Roman fort close to the Town. The town is also home to the Museum of Dartmoor Life. The substantial army training camp on Dartmoor is reached via Okehampton, and is referred to as "Okehampton Camp". The Ten Tors event is run by the Army each year in early May from Okehampton Camp. In summer, and at weekends throughout the year, the Dartmoor Railway operates a heritage railway service between Okehampton and Meldon Quarry. Peter Tavy : Situated just outside Tavistock, a mile south of sister-village, Mary Tavy. Visit the 14th century church of St Peter. As with all churches and churchyards, there is lots to photograph here. Ponsworthy : Ponsworthy has been photographed since photography began ! The earliest known to be published dates to 1891, and very little has changed in that time. The bridge over the West Webburn has two date inscriptions on it, 1666 (built) and 1911 (improved). Postbridge : If only I had a pound for every time the clapper bridge at Postbridge must have been photographed ! Still, it has been here for hundreds of years, and is the biggest on Dartmoor, so it does deserve all the attention it gets. The road bridge dates from about 1790 when the turnpike road was built from Moretonhampstead to Tavistock . There is a visitors information centre in the main car park. Poundsgate : Although situated on the main Ashburton to Two Bridges road, the A384, Poundsgate is spared heavy traffic because of the bridge restrictions across hte River Dart. The Tavistock Inn sits at the centre of the village and boasts the Devil as a past customer. He is said to have stopped here to quench his thirst before continuing to Widecombe - the date was Sunday 21st October 1638. Princetown : Known the world over for the prison, but Princetown has much to offer all visitors ! Click here for more information. Sourton : A settlement almost from when time began. South Tawton : One of the largest parishes in Devon. Interesting church and church house. On a good day, you can see both the English and Bristol Channels from the summit of nearby Cosdon Hill. One local mystery revolved around the Oxenham family, who moved to Dartmoor in the 16th century. A white bird is said to have appeared over a member of the family who would then die shortly afterwards. These sightings continued up until the last century when a member of the family moved to Canada, and the bird was seen there too. The direct family line no longer exists. South Zeal : Situated in the parish of South Tawton. The main A30 avoids the village, so it remains peaceful and charming. Sticklepath : Sticklepath lies along the old trade route between Exeter and Launceston, at the point where the river Taw crosses the ridgeway and also where it was crossed by the old 'Mariner's Way', the route sailors took from Dartmouth to catch their next boat at Bideford. Throwleigh : Throwleigh is a place to take your time in - if you rush anything here, you will be very conspicuous ! The sundial above the church porch still wishes long life to King Charles II. The buildings will take you back in time and provide wonderful subjects for your camera lens to focus on to. Tavistock : Click for more information. Widecombe-in-the-Moor : Click for more information. Yelverton : A large village on the south western edge of
Dartmoor
. It was once a stop on the railway journey to Princetown. The track is long gone, but the track bed is still there and makes a great walk. The views over Burrator are very special, especially near where the station used to be. What a tourist attraction this would have been now had, someone had the foresight ! Yelverton is well known for "the rock" - a large visible mass of stone close to the Plymouth road on the fringe of nearby Roborough Down. It gave its name to the Rock Hotel, built as a farm during the Elizabethan period, but converted in the 1850s to cater for growing tourism in the area.
|
