Dartmoor Town Guides

North East

East

South East

South

South West

West 

Central

Belstone

Belston, or Belstone, is a small village, picturesquely seated, 2 miles South east. of Okehampton, at the northern extremity of Dartmoor Forest, between and near the sources of the rivers Taw and East Okement, where there are many rocky tors and highly interesting druidical remains. Belstone is one of the five Beacon Villages, each one having a clear view of Cosdon Beacon. A granite cross, which stands on the south wall of the Church, near the Lady Chapel, has been dated from somewhere between the 7th and the 9th centuries.

The manor of Belstone belonged to an ancient family of its own name till the reign of Henry III, is recorded in the Domesday Book, confirming the existence of an established farming community from the Anglo-Saxon era. Tin streaming on the moor and granite quarrying and cutting seem to have made Belstone wealthy.

Okehampton

A medieval market town border on the northern edge of Dartmoor National Park on the River Okement, (formerly known as the River Ock) grew on the wool trade. It is known that Iron Age people lived here before and around AD 0, that before AD 70, following the invasion of Britain by the Emperor Claudius in AD 43. However, it was Baron Baldwin de Brionne, one of the knights of William the Conqueror, who, by building a castle, established it as an important trading and market centre throughout the centuries. Baron de Brionne was William's Royal Sheriff of Devonshire, and his castle in Okehampton is the only Devon castle listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. The present castle, on the same site, is that rebuilt and considerably enlarged in the early 1300s by Earl Hugh Courtenay, of the powerful Courtenay family of the County. In 1539, its owner, the Marquis of Exeter, was executed by order of King Henry VIII, and it gradually fell into disuse from then onwards. Notable buildings in the town include the 15th century chapel of St. James, and the late 11th century Okehampton Castle the (mentioned in the Domesday Book) There is also the site of a Roman fort close to the Town near Mill Rd and West St.

Okehampton Camp

A current army base, used for exercises on Dartmoor. Dates back to Roman time

Dartmoor has provided an important and challenging environment for military training for about two hundred years. Training began during the early 1800s with a marked increase during the Crimean War (1854-1856). Artillery training started in 1875 on moorland south of Okehampton, a permanent camp 'Okhampton camp' was built 20 years later. 1893-95 Okehampton Camp constructed in Okehampton Park south of Okhampton on land held on a 999 year lease. The Dartmoor Training Area is primarily used by Royal Marines and other light forces based in the south west of England including territorial reserve forces and their cadet organisations.

Sourton

Small pretty village below Sourton Tors at edge of Northern Moor. Lay between the Launceston - Tavistock and Ockahmpton junction, just on the West egdge of Okhampton.

19th centry iceworks on flank of Tor once supplied ice to Plymouth fishermen. An old odd Inn with rogue architecture and bizarre curiosities on the Tavistock road, well worth visiting.

South Tawton

South Tawton, a village on the North edge of Dartmoor, is an ancient demesne (royal manor), going back at least to the time of the Saxons, if not to the Romans, who named the river Taw, the Tavus. South Tawton grow up on the wool trade. Outside of the Church House is the Cross Tree. A tree has grown here since the time of Elizabeth 1 and the tradition is continued today. During the reign of Edward the Confessor, South Tawton was 'held' by Gytha, the mother of the future King Harold II, then Earl of Wessex. Henry Williamson's classic novel 'Tarka the Otter', first published in 1927, superbly captures the countryside and wildlife of South Tawton, Tarka Trail, which traces his journeys through the richly contrasting magical landscapes of 'Tarka Country'.

South Zeal

South Zeal is a village lieing at the heart of the Beacon villages area. The name, Zeal, comes from the Old English Zele meaning hall. The village lies in a hollow and the surrounding roads look down on the medieval burgage plots. For much of the middle ages and until late in the 18th century woollen manufacture was Devon's most valuable industry. Spinning and weaving of serge was a major cottage industry in South Zeal. The village developed into the larger settlement when it was granted a charter to hold a weekly market and two annual fairs in 1299 AD. This, in turn, led to the development of trade routes and the 13th century from Exeter to Okehampton and on to Cornwall. With the passing of time, the hamlets of Shelley, Prospect and Ramsley became part of the village.

Sticklepath

A little village on wooded edge of the northern boundary’s of the Dartmoor. It owes its being and development to two factors - geography and religion. Sticklepath lies along the old ridgeway path between Exeter and Launceston, once the capital of Cornwall. A couple of miles to the east, the ridgeway passes a place called 'Harepath' which is Anglo-Saxon for 'The way of the warriors'. The name Sticklepath derives from the Saxon 'staecle', meaning 'steep', as it lies at the foot of a high mount, over which the path had to cross, on its way to Cornwall. Famous among geologists for Sticklepath Fault. In 1565 there were 10 water mills established in the village on the stream that ran, parallel to the road, into the Taw, once powered machinery to produce tools far agriculture and mining. Busy industrial village from the 17th centry and home to over 200 Quakers, it is thought that some, from here, may have sailed with the Pilgrim Fathers from Plymouth.

Throwleigh

THROWLEIGH, or THROWLEY, is a small village, near a rivulet at the foot of the north-eastern declivities of Dartmoor, South East of Okehampton, There are many prehistoric hut circles on Throwleigh Common.

Witton Down