Dartmoor

Last night's stay was quite luxurious. It was at the Deer Park Country Hotel at Honiten. It was one of those 50% deals and a cut above what we normally stay at.

We had a bit of a slow start as we needed to purchase a new camera card and ipad cable. Doesn't sound a major deal but so much more difficult than at home. We had to drive into Exteter in the end which was a nightmare and there was no Parking. And trying to find a public toilet in a hurry. Oh boy!

We finally got going to Dartmoor around noon. There were so many ancient things to see according to the OS map but trying to find them was another matter as nothing was signposted. Not sure why, perhaps to avoid vandalism.

 

This is Hounds Tor. It was a bit of a walk up but the views were spectacular and down the other side was the remains of a medieval stone village.

 

 

 

Obvious why it was called Hounds Tor.

 

 

 

To the south-east of the tor, on a north-eastern-facing slope were the remains of Hundatora, a deserted medieval village, which was excavated between 1961 and 1975. It has four Dartmoor longhouses, many with a central drainage channel, and several smaller houses and barns. The three grain storage barns appear to have been adapted to include corn dryers, indicative of the deteriorating climate which led to the abandonment of the settlement by 1350.

The settlement is first mentioned in the Domesday Book as belonging to Tavistock Abbey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Driving in Dartmoor is insane. These lanes are two way! At in stage poor Geoff had to reverse hundered of metres to let 2 cars pass. This was the school bus in front of us.

 

 

The Dartmoor crosses are a series of stone crosses found in Dartmoor National Park. Many of them are old navigational aids, needed because of the remoteness of the moorland and its typically bad weather. Some mark medieval routes between abbeys.

 

 

 

Other crosses were erected as memorials, for prayer, as town or market crosses, in churchyards, and as boundary markers.The crosses were erected over a long period of time, some as recently as 100 years ago, the earliest probably almost 1,000 years ago.

 

 

Heading up to Grimspound. The best known of many Dartmoor prehistoric settlements, Grimspound dates from the late Bronze Age. The remains of 24 stone houses survive within a massive boundary wall.

 

Dartmoor ponies everywhere. Not the least perturbed having humans close by.

 

 

 

 

 

Postbridge is best known for its fine example of an ancient clapper bridge over the river. First recorded in the 14th century, the bridge is believed to have been built in the 13th century to enable pack horses to cross the river, carrying tin to the stannary town of Tavistock. The clapper bridge which is a Grade II* listed structure, is still complete, and stands alongside another bridge, a Grade II listed structure built in the 1780s.

 

 

 

 

The 'new' bridge built in 1795.

 

 

 

Another clapper bridge in Dartmoor.

We spent the night in Paignton, on the coast.