Page 144 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - England's South Coast

142  ENGLAND ' S SOUTH C O AST REGION B Y REGION

e Dartmoor National Park

The dramatic landscape of central Dartmoor is one of
contrasts, providing an impressive variety of striking vistas.
The high, open moorland served as the eerie backdrop for
the Sherlock Holmes tale The Hound of the Baskervilles
(1902), while one of Britain’s most famous prisons, Dartmoor
Prison, is surrounded by weathered outcrops of stone tors
in Princetown. Also dotting the landscape are scores of
ancient remains that have survived thanks to the durability
of granite. Creating pockets of tranquility, streams tumble
through wooded and boulder-strewn ravines forming Lydford Gorge
There is a circular 5-km
waterfalls, and thatched cottages nestle in the sheltered (3-mile) walk through
valleys and villages around the margins of the moor. this remote ravine.

Meldon Whiddon
Down

High Wilihays
622 m (2000 ft) Chagford
Lydford

St Michael de Rupe
Legend has it that the Devil tried to prevent the Mary
construction of this church, perched atop Brent Tor, by Tavy
moving the stones. Whatever the truth, there has been a River Walkham
church here since the 12th century. Reached by a footpath,
there are stunning views over Dartmoor from here. Two Bridges
Tavistock
KEY Princetown
1 Dartmoor Prison Gulworthy
2 The Ministry of Defence uses
much of this area for training, but
access is available on non-firing
days (call 0800 458 4868 to check). Yelverton River Avon
3 Okehampton is home to the River Plym
Museum of Dartmoor Life and a
ruined 14th-century castle. 0 kilometres 5
4 Grimspound is the impressive 0 miles 5
remains of a Bronze Age settlement.
5 Dartmeet marks the confluence Cornwood
of the East and West Dart rivers. South
Brent
6 Becky Falls is a 22-m- (72-ft-) high
waterfall set in delightful woodlands. Plympton Ivybridge
7 Haytor Rocks is one of the most Ugborough
remarkable of Dartmoor's many tors.
8 Bovey Tracey is a small town close
to an extensive woodland reserve. Postbridge
9 Buckfast Abbey was founded In the centre of the moor
by King Cnut in 1018 (see p141). and set on the River Dart,
0 Buckfast Butterfly Farm and the village of Postbridge
is a good starting point for
Dartmoor Otter Sanctuary (see p141). walks on the moor. There is
q South Devon Steam Railway a medieval “clapper” bridge
runs between Buckfastleigh and here, built to enable pack
Totnes (see p141). horses to carry mined tin
across the river.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p178 and pp189–90

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