Dartmoor Town Guides
| West Dartmoor Town Guide
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| Lydford
The original Anglo-Saxon names for the village were Hlidaford or Hlidan, from hlid, meaning a cover or lid, referring to the almost perfect concealment of the river beneath the chasm at the bridge, and ford (crossing). Over the years the name mutated via Lyghatford, Lidefort and Lideford to the contemporary spelling. A settlement on the site we now know as Lydford, was first established by King Alfred sometime between 871 and 901. The Normans also saw its location as one that was easy to protect and built a fort here 200 years later. The site of a medieval castle and the fortified building that now stands on the site, dominating the village, Lydford was once an important town equal to Exeter, During the reign of Ethelred the Unready, there was a mint, and coins minted there were inscribed LVD., LVDA, and LVDAN. In the reign of Edward the Confessor it was the most populous centre in Devon after Exeter, Now famous for its castle and its deep and beautiful, tree-lined ravine known as Lydford Gorge the deepest gorge in south-west England.
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| Mary Tavy and Peter Tavy
TAVY ST MARY, or Mary Tavy, and TAVY ST PETER, or Peter Tavy are two scattered sister village in the Tavy valley situated along side the river Tavy (which there name derives) on the western edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It used to be home to the world's largest copper mine, and the worlds largest waterwheels, as well as a number of lead, tin and silver mines. Mary Tavy lies just a mile or two north of Peter Tavy; both were shown as separate settlements in the Domesday Book entry of 1086 but appears to have developed in Saxon times, a Saxon Lord called Siward owned the lands of Peter Tavy in 1042 but lost them to Alfred the Breton when the Normans distributed their conquests. Mary and Peter Tavy is situated on the road between Tavistock and Okehampton that was notorius for its haighwaymen hijacks, captured highwaymen were hanged from a gibbet on what is now known as 'Gibbet Hill' at Mary Tavy. Today the Duke of Bedford is lord of the manors of Peter Tavy and Huntingdon, The Church (St. Peter,) has a tower and five bells. |
| North Brentor
A small sleepy village lies just west of the high moor on the fringe of the Dartmoor National Park, dominated by one of the more prominent features of Dartmoor, St Michael de Rupe, this tiny 13th century church perched on top of rocky outcrop 1100ft volcanic precipice, known as Brentor can been seen for many mile across Devon and Cornwall. The local area, steeped in mining history dating back to 1700, is part of the Cornwall & West Devon Mining Landscape which has received international recognition as a World Heritage Site. To the east is the granite mass of the high moor, and to the south west is the volcanic plug of Brentor. The volcanic history of the area also deposited minerals and ores. There is evidence of human activity in the area from late prehistoric times. The age of North Brentor itself is uncertain. Until the 19th century the economic base of the settlement was agriculture, but during that century there were five local mines exploiting deposits of manganese, ochre and copper. The Duke of Bedford is lord of the manor, which formerly belonged to Tavistock Abbey |
| Tavistock
Tavistock is a small market town stands in the heart of an area of tremendous natural beautysituated along side the river Tavy (which its name derives) on the western edge of the Dartmoor National Park. Tavistock Abbey founded in the 10th century whose ruins now lie in the centre of the town, then in the late 12th century Tavistock developed as a Stannary Town. Later Tavistock also prospered from the cloth trade and through copper mining. in 1542 Sir Francis Drake was born at Crowndale Farm, just to the west of what is now Tavistock College. Today Tavistock is famous Goose Fair, which is held yearly. |
| Whitchurch WHITCHURCH, a small village on the West borders of Dartmoor, just 2 mles South from Tavistock, where there are several lead and tin mines, the largest of which is the Wheal Anderton Tin Mine. WHITCHURCH means "white church." There must have been a church here as early as the 11th century, probably built of the white elvan found on Roborough Down only two or three miles away. The present church (St. Andrew) is mainly a 15th century building, of elvan and granite. Sortridge was built c. 1640. Moor- town, 800 ft. up on the flank of Whitchurch Common, was the home of the Mooringe or Morwen family from at least the early 4th century, and probably much earlier. Holwell was the ancient seat of the Glanvilles from the late 14th century until about 1700; there are remains of the Glanville mansion. At Lower Collaton the farmhouse is of some antiquity. |
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