Legendary Dartmoor The many aspects past and present of Dartmoor
According to William Crossing this is probably the most boring page on this website, in the section headed “Terms used in connection with the Forest and Commons,” he has the following to say about ‘pools’: “… there are a number of pools, and so-called pools, on the moor, not one of them, however, being of the slightest importance as such. Certain associations lend some interest to one or two of them, but for the most part they possess little to attract the visitor.”, 1990, p.30.
Perhaps when he penned those words there was very little emphasis on ecology and habitats but that certainly is not the case today as will be seen later. It is astounding the different types of ‘pools‘ that can be found on Dartmoor, some are natural and others are man-made. There are pools that have formed as a result of quarrying such as those at Haytor, others have come about thanks to China Clay extraction and similarly mining activities. Some smaller ones can owe their existence to military activities and were formed from artillery shell craters. There are those that were made in order to provide drinking water to passing draught horses as well as grazing cattle, sheep and ponies and tend to be located beside roads and tracks. This type has been likened to the dew ponds found on the chalklands of Britain, Mercer, p.223. There were also ‘pools’ associated with rabbit warrening and were used for storing carcasses intended for dog food. Then there are the naturally formed pools that can be found at the heads of rivers (although strictly speaking these are mires and bogs) and along the course of their waters.
As always with Dartmoor there has to be an element of confusion and in this instance it arises with the question of ponds, namely what’s the difference between a pool and a pond? Basically very little except the actual place-name element and in some cases its uses. Here we can consider mills ponds, fish ponds and fishing ponds, some being natural and others man-made. For the sake of clarity both pools and ponds will be treated here as one and the same, especially as far as the gazetteer below in concerned.
A typical Dartmoor pool
Arguably the most famous of Dartmoor pools has to be Cranmere Pool which is closely followed by Duck’s Pool and Crazywell Pools. Cranmere and Crazywell pools are man-made whilst Duck’s Pool is deemed to be a dried up natural tarn. It is fair to say that all of these places have become ‘must visits’ for any dedicated Dartmoor walker and their associated letterbox stamps a must for any credible collection.
Over the centuries quite a great deal of legend and tradition has become attached to the pools of Dartmoor, mostly of a supernatural kind with a whole host of unearthly beings haunting them. Many of these legends can be found by following the links in the gazetteer below. This list is one that I have compiled over the years from various books, maps, magazines etc and is by no means exhaustive, many have come from Mike Brown’s excellent gazetteer of Dartmoor place names.
| Place | OS Grid Ref | Comments |
| ABBEY POOL | SX 7420 6755 | |
| BELLAFORD POOL | SX 65?? 76?? | |
| BIRCH POOL | SX 7332 6811 | |
| BLACK POOL | SX 6549 5812 | |
| BLACK POOL | SX 6850 7199 | |
| BLACK SHELLS | SX 5170 7825 | AKA Tadpole Pond. 321/6 |
| BLACKPOOL | SX 8127 7406 | |
| BLACKSMITH’S POOL | SX 6860 8771 | |
| BLAKEY FURZE POOL | SX 6476 7383 | |
| BLOODY POOL | SX 7029 6262 | Bronze spear heads found in 1854. 72/363 |
| BOATING POND | SX ??? ??? | |
| BRADFORD POOL | SX 700 910 | |
| BRADMERE POOL | SX 700 910 | see legend HERE |
| BRIDGE POOL | SX 658 728 | |
| BRIM PARK POOL | SX 6431 7395 | |
| BROOM PARK POOL | SX 6430 7400 | |
| BUSH POOL | SX 6600 7292 | |
| CARRION POOL | SX 5841 6624 | See HERE |
| CHURCH POOL | SX 6610 7299 | |
| COMBWEAR POOL | SX 6657 7256 | |
| CRAMBER POOL | SX 5895 7112 | |
| CRANMERE POOL | SX 603 858 | AKA The Lake of Cranes. – see legends HERE |
| CRAZYWELL POOL | SX 582 704 | see legends HERE wild swimming location |
| DINGER POOL | SX 584 872 | AKA Pixies Pool. |
| DOE TOR GATE POOL | SX 5275 8470 | |
| DOWN POOL | SX 5259 8185 | |
| DRAGONFLY POOL | SX 593 867 | |
| DUCKS POOL | SX 624 679 | see legend HERE |
| DUCKY POOL | SX 6187 9130 | |
| DUNNA POOL | SX ??? ??? | |
| FISH PONDS | SX 751 784 | |
| FOSTER’S POOL | SX 728 718 | |
| FULLAFORD POOL | SX 7335 6578 | |
| GOADSTONE POND | SX 5570 7067 | |
| GOOSE POOL | SX 6830 7280 | |
| GORSE POOL | SX 6595 7292 | |
| HEYTOR PONDS | SX 7602 7748 | |
| HIGHER CORNER POOL | SX 7153 7109 | |
| HORSHAM POOL | SX 759? 817? | |
| HOUND’S POOL | SX 7181 6469 | see HERE |
| HUGGATON POOL | SX 6032 8688 | |
| HURDLE POOL | SX 6400 7380 | |
| JACK-IN-THE-BOX | SX 6823 6452 | |
| KENLAKE POOL | SX ??? ??? | |
| KITTS STEPS | SX 5172 8454 | |
| KNATTABURROW POND | SX 6560 6448 | AKA Petre’s Pits Pool and Knattaburrow Pool |
| KNATTABURROW POOL | SX 6560 6448 | see legend HERE |
| LAKE OF CRANES | SX 603 858 | AKA Cranmere Pool. 72/479 |
| LANGAWELL | SX 6820 7210 | |
| LONG ASH PONDS | SX 5499 7470 | |
| LONG POOL | SX 5549 8320 | |
| LONG POOL | SX 751 784 | |
| LOWER BIRCH POOL | SX 7350 6807 | |
| LOWER CORNER POOL | SX 7145 7154 | |
| MEAVY POOL | SX 579 661 | AKA South Goater Brook. |
| MEL POOL | SX6935 7214 | AKA Mil Tor Pool. wild swimming location |
| MELDON POOL | SX 564 921 | see legend HERE wild swimming location |
| MIL TOR POOL | SX6935 7214 | AKA Mel Pool. wild swimming location |
| MILL POND, THE | SX 5199 7761 | |
| MILL POND, THE | SX 6910 7224 | |
| OCKERTON POOL | SX 6032 8688 | AKA Huggaton Pool |
| ORCHARD POOL | SX 6655 7258 | |
| OTTER POOL | SX 6655 7258 | |
| PAN POOL | SX 7128 6468 | |
| PETRE’S PITS POOL | SX 6560 6448 | AKA Knattaburrow Pool. |
| PIXIES POOL | SX ??? ??? | |
| PIXIES POOL | SX 5848 8720 | AKA Dinger Pool. |
| QUEENIE POOL | SX 6670 7280 | |
| RAYBARROW POOL | SX 638 900 | see legend HERE |
| SALTER’S POOL | SX 7106 7061 | |
| SANDY POOL | SX 6400 7380 | |
| SCUM POOL | SX 6395 7370 | |
| SHARRAH POOL | SX 6971 7163 | |
| SHILLA POOL | SX 6520 9120 | AKA Shilley Pool. |
| SHILLEY POOL | SX 6520 9120 | AKA Shilla Pool. – wild swimming location |
| SHINY POOL | SX ??? ??? | |
| SHIPLEY POOL | SX 6808 6280 | |
| SNAKEY POOL | SX 6472 7427 | |
| SOLDIERS POND | SX 5870 7323 | Site of a soldier’s death in 1853. See HERE |
| SOUTH GOATER BROOK | SX 579 661 | AKA Meavy Pool. |
| STILL POOL | SX 6453 7904 | |
| SWINCOMBE MEET POOL | SX 6479 7371 | |
| TADPOLE POND | SX 5170 7825 | |
| TADPOLE POND | SX 5170 7825 | AKA Black Shells. |
| TAN POOL | SX ??? ??? | |
| TIMBER POOL | SX 6520 7362 | So called from an oak tree brought down by a flood. |
| TURN TEIGN | SX 6500 8654 | |
| TWO DAY POND | SX 5699 6884 | So called because that is how long it took to build. |
| UPPER WEIR POOL | SX 7410 6793 | |
| WEIR POOL | SX 7412 6778 | |
| WISHING POOL, THE | SX 6680 6039 | |
| ZEAL POOL | SX 68?? 62?? |
Today there is a craze for ‘wild swimming’ where basically folk can enjoy a free, cold and invigorating swim in some of the above pools and ponds, hence the reference alongside some of them.
As briefly noted above, due to the present situation whereby it’s thought that areas or blanket bogs are reducing at an alarming rate due to peat erosion. In an effort to halt this process certain concerned bodies are artificially creating small pools which it is hoped will enable the water table to recover and protect the bogs from further shrinkage. In theory these small pools will allow for the re-colonisation of bog plants which in turn will form new peat layers. The consequences of this may mean that more carbon will be stored in the vegetation thus reducing the UK’s carbon emissions – nice idea but we will see.
Needless to say with such a rich diversity of pools and ponds they provide a whole range of habitats, ecosystems and food sources for numerous types of fauna and flora. Just a quick glance at the above list will suggest a few; dragonfly, ducks (and I have certainly seen some of them there), geese, fish, herons (cranes), otters, snakes, tadpoles and even pixies. In reality the list of mammals, reptiles, insects and plantlife is vast, many of which can be found – HERE.
Brown, M. 1995. The Gazetteer of Dartmoor Names. Liverton: Forest Publishing.
Crossing, W. 1990. Crossing’s Guide to Dartmoor. Newton Abbot: Peninsula Press.
Mercer, I. 2009. Dartmoor. London: Harper Collins.
