Recently John and I spent a day exploring Dartmoor. It wasn't nearly enough time to cover the sites of this beautiful high moorland of south Devon. Dartmoor was the fourth National Park to be designated in the UK in 1951. It's a beautiful and unique landscape shaped by millennia of human activity – water; woodlands; the patchwork of farmed fields – all set against a backdrop of breathtaking high open moorland. It's English countryside at it's best.
Dartmoor is well known for it's tors. Throughout the landscape you can see dramatic granite outcrops dominate the skyline; the remains of once giant mountains, eroded and frost shattered over millions of years to leave the iconic granite tors that you now see today. We climbed to the top of a Haytor, a favorite with the tourists. The view from the top of Haytor is spectacular!
Dartmoor is one of the most important Bronze Age landscapes in Western Europe, containing thousands of hut circles, the remains of human habitation, stone rows, standing stones, religious complexes and burial sites. The longest stone row in the world can be found on Dartmoor. We missed seeing much of what was on our list due to our involvement in a car accident. (Dartmoor is also famous for very narrow one-lane roads with high hedgerows that block any view of oncoming traffic.) Fortunately, no one was hurt. Unfortunately, our car was totaled. With the help of many good Samaritans, we found our way on to a train back to Oxford with a long list of things to see when we come back to Dartmoor and the beautiful landscape of Devon.
The skyscapes on the moor are every bit as interesting as the landscape.
Haytor
Climbing to the top of Haytor
Enjoying the view from the top
Dartmoor is also famous for it's "wild" ponies. They play an important part in habitat management by grazing plants that cattle and sheep won’t eat.
Not-so-wild horses would be a great way to travel the moors.
The tithe barn at Buckland Abbey
This one of the largest tithe barns in England. During the time when this was part of a large abbey, the peasants (those who worked the fields but did not own the land) were required to deliver one tenth of their harvest to the wealthy land owner (the church). It was stored in the tithe barn.
Buckland Abbey was established in 1278. It was the last of 74 Cistercian Abbeys to be built in England. After the Dissolution it passed to Sir Richard Grenville and then was home to Sir Francis Drake. It is now owned by the National Trust.
There is a fascinating exhibit about Francis Drake that leaves you wondering whether was he a pirate or an explorer or both. After seeing the exhibit, my vote is both.
A two farm, one church village in Dartmoor.
Lydford Gorge is one of Devon's gems...it's the deepest gorge in the whole of the south West, and it's surrounded by ancient woodland. It's a National Trust property with a lovely loop walk through the woods and along the river. It's well worth a stop and a walk.
I love the National Trust. They preserve and make accessible so many extraordinary buildings and landscapes throughout the England. I keep discovering new favorites and this past week discovered a magnificent National Trust property called Stourhead.
Stourhead is best known for it's Capability Brown landscaping and garden on a 2650 acre site together with a delightful Palladian style country house. There are numerous garden paths that meander around the lakes, ponds and collection of trees and bushes making it a delightful place to wander and explore, even in the rain.
The Stourton family lived on the estate for 500 years until they sold it to Sir Thomas Meres in 1714. His son, John Meres, sold it to Henry Hoare I, son of wealthy banker. The original manor was demolished and a new house. Over the next 200 years the Hoare family collected many heirlooms, including a large library and art collection which is on display in the house. In 1902 the house was gutted by fire but many of the heirlooms were saved, and the house was rebuilt in a near identical style.
The last Hoare family member to own the property, Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, gave the house and gardens to the National Trust in 1946, one year before his and his wife's death. (They died on the same day of natural causes!) Their sole heir and son, Captain "Harry" Hoare, died in 1917 serving in the Queen's on Dorset Yeomanry in World War I. There is a lovely story trail through the gardens that tell the story of "Harry"and what it was like to grow up in this bit of paradise.
The Stable Yard
The Temple of Apollo
The view from the Grotto
The Palladian Bridge
The Pantheon
The Grotto
