In 1240 King Henry III ordered by a writ which was dated the 13th of June that the lands of his brother Richard of Cornwall should confirmed by a boundary perambulation. The lands in question were the Forest of Dartmoor and the Manor of Lydford which he had previously granted …

Whilst browsing through some early copies of ‘Transactions of the Devonshire Association’ I came across a paper written in 1876 by J. B. Davidson. It was called ‘Some Anglo-Saxon Boundaries, Now Deposited at the Albert Museum, Exeter‘ and contains details of the Peadington Landscore. According to Davidson this charter consisted …

As you drive down the A386 towards Tavistock you will come to the little village of Sourton in which there are two things you will notice. The first is the Highwayman inn and secondly, opposite on the green is a large ‘standing stone’. You may be forgiven for thinking it …

Anybody who has visited the various prehistoric ritual monuments will know that there is nothing more annoying than trekking across the moor in driving rain or mist to find them and then being unable to get a decent photograph. Well, there is one such monument you can visit that is …

Imagine a cold, dank winter’s day, there is a sad, little procession winding it’s way up Dartmeet Hill, they are carrying a shrouded corpse. The sound of mournful singing can be heard echoing across the misty moor, every now and again the dirge is interrupted by desperate weeping and wailing. …

There are around 18 locations that have the place-name element  ‘castle’ attached to them, of these there is only Castle Drogo, Gidleigh Castle, Lydford Castle and Okehampton Castle that come close to resembling a fortified structure of the historic age. True there are several Iron Age hillforts that are called …

I would think that Nun’s Cross, or to give its correct name, Siward’s Cross must be about the best known of Dartmoor’s granite crosses. It can be classified as a ‘wayside cross’ as it marks the old monastic Maltern Way amongst other things. It is certainly the largest of the …

On the brow of Hand Hill which overlooks Nun’s Cross and Fox Tor Mires is a large triangular boulder upon which jauntily sits what has become known as “The Smallest Cross on Dartmoor”. In very recent times is seems to have become very popular both on the web and in …

Imagine walking the moor on a hot, balmy day, salty beads of sweat start to trickle into your eyes making them sting. Overhead a buzzard lazily floats on the warm therms, slowly spiralling up into the sky with a screel of delight. You decide to have a rest on a …

Teetering on the western flank of Ter Hill is the corner of an newtake belonging to the old Foxtor Farm, here the gateway overlooks the infamous Foxtor Mires and Swincombe Valley. A few feet away from the gateway stands an old granite cross which is one of the line of …