Over the past few years the good folk of Ilsington have done an excellent job in reclaiming their history and heritage, in particular there have been two initiatives that have restored, or rather rescued, features of the village’s past. For many years the enigmatic remains of an ivy-clad wall has …

Well Ok, ‘Bridge of the Underworld’ is a bit dramatic but it sounds pretty interesting you must admit, conjures up images of dark misty caverns with a solitary bridge leading over a fetid river into a world of darkness and despair. Sadly, it’s nothing like that at all, it’s another …

The Chinese built the ‘Great Wall’, the Romans built Hadrian’s Wall and on Dartmoor the Irish built the Irishman’s Wall and like all other great walls this fact is acknowledged by the Ordnance Survey map-makers. So who, where, when and why? Today the remnants of the wall run in a …

I recently recieved an e mail asking if I knew the whereabouts of the Indian’s Head (visitors book – Aug 12th) which gave me the nudge to feature it on this web page. The Indian’s Head, sometimes called the Turk’s Head was a small porcelain plaque that lay in the …

High on the hilltop overlooking Lustleigh Cleave is the granite outcrop known as Hunter’s Tor. To the east of the tor are the remains of an Iron Age hillfort, which as hillforts go would have been in an easily defended location. The fort stands at an impressive 320m with vertigo …

This is probably a very non-PC item to include but it is one that is a Dartmoor tradition and so I offer no apologies for its inclusion. Depending how sharp your eye you may notice a large angular boulder beside the intersection of the track that leads up to the …

Huccaby was originally one of the Ancient Tenements of Dartmoor consisting of five farmsteads, the earliest documented reference to the place was in 1296 when it was called Woghebye. The suggested etymology of the place-name consists of two descriptive elements – woh meaning crooked and byge meaning curve or bend, …

If you wanted a place on Dartmoor that is surrounded by history and mystery then look no further than Hound tor. The whole area in and around the tor is famed for its ghosts and nearby are the ancient dwellings and graves of their time. So, starting with the tor …

Anybody who visits the Dartmoor National Park today cannot help noticing the strong connection with the equine world. Ponies are all to obvious with their presence and also appear on the park’s log, postcards, souvenirs etc. The first evidence of equines on Dartmoor was found in the 1970’s. This was …

The Honour Oak can be classed as one of Dartmoor’s historic oaks as it certainly holds a place in history that dates back nearly 200 years. To discover this we must go back to the times of the Napoleonic Wars and find the French prisoners that were brought back to …