North

North East

East

South East

South

South West

West 

 Central Dartmoor Town Guide

Central Dartmoor Community Page

Buckland-in-the-Moor

One of Devon's "dream villages" overlooking woodland of Holne Chase, with an attractive small church dating from the 13th century and a cluster of picturesque thickly thatched streamside cottages nestling on the edge of Dartmoor's National Park, perched on slopes above the River Dart, slumbering quietly among groves of beeches in sheltered hollows, Buckland is full of charm, and has a quality which defies the passing of the years.

Nearby is a viewpoint called Buckland Beacon some 1282 ft, where you can also find the 10 Commandment Stones.

The popular hamlet of Dartmeet is, as its name indicates, the spot where

the West and East Dart rivers meet. An ancient old broken-down 'Clapper Bridge'

spans the East Dart (In years gone by this would have been used by pack horses)

with a modern functional bridge standing alongside it. Upstream from the bridges is

the Badger’s Holt tea rooms, where Devon cream teas are served to a 50 year old

secret recipe. Up the hill from the bridges leads to a little wooden cabin called

Pixieland, here is Dartmoor’s most famous gift shop and legend has it, the home of

the “Dartmoor Pixie”. Nearby is Pixies Wood and Huccaby Cleave below the bridges

is where the “Piskies” hide in a small tunnel like cave! Dartmeet provides easy

access to the Dart Valley Nature Reserve.

Tiny hamlet in the heart of Dartmoor. It lies on the West Dart River a mile upstream from Dartmeet. There was a long history of tin mining in Hexworthy. Tin works in the valley of the O Brook were first recorded in 1240, and the Henroost or Hexworthy Mine did not close until 1919.

Ponsworthy is a hamlet on the eastern side of Dartmoor, It lies in the steep valley of the West Webburn River about 3.5 km (2 miles) southwest of the village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor. Its row of picturesque thatched cottages, climbing up a steep hill, are often the subject of calendars and postcards. The village is also well-known for Ponsworthy Bridge over the West Webburn River.

Situated at the very centre of the Dartmoor National Park, and therefore it has

become a natural starting and ending point for the many thousands of ramblers who

wish to explore the beauty of Dartmoor. Postbridge's other attraction is the finest

example of a clapper bridge in the county. The clapper bridge is still complete and

straddles the East Dart River, just twenty meters from the main road bridge, and is

clearly visible as you drive through the village. The bridge is constructed from four

large granite slabs supported by three granite piers. The large slabs are each over 4m

long and 2m wide and weigh over 8 tons each. First recorded in the 14th century, the

bridge is believed to have been built to enable pack horses to cross the river, carrying

Poundgate

Poundsgate is a small village in the hart of Dartmoor, located on the road between Ashburton and Princetown. Poundsgate takes its name from the pound situated on the left-hand side of the road just past the village when travelling toward Princetown. It is situated in the ecclesiastical parish of Leusdon, the civic parish of Widecombe and within the Manor of Spitchwick.

Princetown is situated in hart of Dartmoor National Park on the foot of North Hessary Tor, 435 metres above sea level making It the highest town on the moor, and one of the highest in the whole of the United Kingdom. In 1780 a farm was reclaimed on the site of an ancient tenement near the Two Bridges and In 1785, Thomas Tyrwhitt, Secretary to the Prince of Wales, set about setting up an estate calling it Princetown after the Prince of Wales.Later the road from Tavistock to Princetown was built and the other roads that now cross the Moor. Princetown is best known as the site of the notorious

Dartmoor Prison built in 1806- 1809 to hold prisonersof the Napoleonic Wars, it

was also used to hold American prisoners from the war of 1812.

North Hessary Tor is 517 metres high and can be seen from miles around due

to the 643 ft radio mast situated on the summit built by the BBC in 1955.

The village lies in the broad valley of the East Webburn river which is bounded by high granite-strewn ridges reaching 1,500 ft. Hameldown Beacon (1,697 ft.) was a beacon in Elizabethan times. On the moors are many hutcircles, barrows, and kists (burial chambers or "chests") of Bronze Age date. Hamel Down has a number of barrows, and also two of those mysterious raised trackways known as reaves. Foales Arrishes is a group of hutcircles, where early Iron Age pottery was produced, evidence of a longer occupation of Dartmoor than had hitherto been suspected. Widecombe church (St. Pancras) is sometimes called "the cathedral of the moor" It is essentially a cruciform 4th century church, reconstructed and enlarged in the late 15th and early 16th century. The granite tower is noble, combining grace with strength, and is one of the finest in the west of England. The well-known Widecombe Fair is held on the second Tuesday in September.