Dartmoor
Dartmoor [ ˈdɑːtmʊə (r) / - mɔː (r) ] is a hilly landscape in the English county of Devon . The planarization areas of the massive granite, which are mainly bog and heather, are surmounted by a multitude of so-called gates , flat meadow hills with granite rock formations up to 10 meters high. The highest point in Dartmoor is the 621 m high High Willhays or High Willes . 954 km² of the landscape are designated as Dartmoor National Park . Numerous remains of Bronze Age dwellings, field systems and stone circles can be found in Dartmoor. The so-called clapper bridges made of thin granite slabs are also characteristic .
Ancient and Middle Ages
In the limestone caves near Torquay , the oldest traces of human habitation in Great Britain were found next to Cheddar Gorge or Kents Cavern . Many of the archaeological find complexes in Dartmoor date from the New Stone ( Spinster's Rock ) and Bronze Ages (2000 to 500 BC). In addition to stone circles , over 2000 round hut floor plans are registered. Examples can be found at Grimspound . There are also a large number of rows of stones and menhirs to be found. Iron Age fortifications can also be found at higher altitudes. The largest such facility is Hembury Fort .
Devon, a county since the 8th century, was the target of raids by the Vikings and Danes in 851 and 1003. Most of the fortresses built in the Anglo-Saxon period and after the conquest by the Normans , for example Exeter , Barnstaple , Totnes and Lydford, as well as Okehampton and Plympton , were the germ cells for the later cities.
Economic development
Tourism has long been an important economic factor in the region. In addition, agriculture, which is primarily based on sheep and cattle breeding, is the main source of income. In numerous places you can ride the Dartmoor ponies . This wild moorland pony is Britain's oldest pony breed. The animals are sold in special markets and are ideal as riding horses for children. The HMP Dartmoor prison is in the middle of the moor near Princetown . It became famous in the early 1980s through a revolt that was triggered, among other things, by the poor hygienic conditions prevailing there.
Mining since the Middle Ages
Remains of old smelting furnaces and abandoned mining settlements are a reminder of the former importance of tin and copper ore mining for the region. This era, during which the miners formed their own communes with their own jurisdiction, lasted from the 12th to the 17th century. Lead , silver and iron ore as well as copper and manganese were mined on a smaller scale until the 19th century . The surrounding port cities of Exeter, Plymouth , Barnstaple and Dartmouth also benefited from tin and textile exports from the Middle Ages until their final decline began in the 19th century. Only the exploitation of the kaolin deposits discovered in the 18th century could be continued. The emigration of the rural population associated with this development was mitigated by the increase in tourism that went hand in hand with the expansion of the railway network.
Water for the region
The peat layer that covers the Dartmoor is able to store large amounts of water and then release it as seepage water. This ability to regulate the water balance of the plateaus and prevent flooding brought about the use of Dartmoor for the water supply of cities and communities from the 16th century onwards.
The first city to realize a regular water supply from outside its borders on this basis was Plymouth. Sir Francis Drake directed the construction of the required waterway, which was completed in 1591. Two hundred years later, Devonport took up this approach again and was the second city to get its water from Dartmoor. The first dam was built in 1898 and later expanded again, again from Plymouth. In 1907, the town of Paignton built its dam, followed by many others. Since then, a number of other towns and cities have built dams and laid pipes, and today practically the entire surrounding region draws its water from the Dartmoor.
Dartmoor National Park
The Dartmoor National Park, established in 1951, aims to help preserve the originality of the area, to protect its archaeological remains such as the stone circles in Dartmoor and the megalithic complex of Merrivale , The Graveyard and Grimspound, its flora or fauna. 17,000 hectares or 16 percent of the park are designated either as nature reserves or as places of "special scientific interest". In addition, 1000 hectares of wooded areas are protected. Unlike other national parks, Dartmoor National Park is not subject to the Rights of Way Act . This means that the entire park is accessible to pedestrians, they don't have to stick to the existing paths and streets.
Commercial pressure and the resulting ever faster changes in Dartmoor led to the establishment of the Dartmoor Preservation Association in 1883 . This organization still plays a leading role in protecting natural habitats and maintaining free public access. In this context, efforts are made above all to maintain good relationships with private landowners. Much of the land belongs to the Duke of Cornwall , currently the British heir to the throne, Prince Charles . 41 percent of the park is common, the use of which has been regulated by the Dartmoor Commons Act since 1985 . Another important concern is the conservation of animal and plant species.
Landscape image
Thirty percent of the common land is treeless bog at heights over 366 meters, the thick layer of peat of which is capable of storing large amounts of water. In some areas the heathland is preserved through regular burning. Nature lovers appreciate the humid but mild climate for hiking. Attractive forest areas offer variety, for example the Yarner Wood National Nature Reserve or the Becky Falls area with a waterfall. Three of these forests probably originate from the time when the entire area belonged to the royal hunting area hundreds of years ago. One of them could be Wistman's Wood . Located north of Two Bridges , it has been a tourist attraction for more than a century because of its strangely stunted vegetation. The rich flora with ferns and lichens is also remarkable.
In the park area there is a large selection of picturesque rivers, as well as imposing waterfalls. The water of the National Trust owned Lydford Gorge wedges, for example, through a narrow slit and spins from there down into the Devil's Cauldron . Also noteworthy is The White Lady waterfall on the western edge of the park , so named because a 30 meter high curtain of white water foam is formed. In the Dartmoor area there are only a few meadows and pastures with flora that blooms in spring. In the months of August and September, yellow gorse and purple heather color the landscape.
For hikers, especially those who know how to read maps, the possibilities are immense. The paths managed by the Park Ranger Service alone add up to a total length of 740 kilometers. The moorland itself is also open to the public.
Hamlets, villages, sights
In addition to the more well-known and less well-known sights of Dartmoor, the scattered beautiful hamlets and villages are among the attractions; The park administration has granted some of them the status of "Conservation Areas". On the southeast edge of the park, the small town of Buckfastleigh is well worth a visit; from there the South Devon Railway , a restored standard gauge railway line, runs along the Dart River to Totnes . Near the city is the Benedictine Buckfast Abbey , one of the few still active monasteries in Great Britain.
In the north-east of the park lies the Castle Drogo above the river valley of the Teign ; it is the last country castle to be built in Britain. Further downstream you come to Fingle Bridge , a massive, three-arched structure. Head northwest to Lynford . There is the church of St Michal's de Rupe on Brentor . In Lydford the well-known for his rude treatment of prisoners first prison was built in Dartmoor 1195th
From the southwest you drive on old but renovated streets through the center of the park. About Bennet's Cross and Warren House , the most secluded Inn , you reach the village of Post Bridge , where, over the largest surviving East Dart is seen erected "clapper bridge". It dates back to the 13th century and was built to transport tin from the mines on pack horses to the smelting furnaces at Tavistock and Chagford . The next town is Princetown , known for the HMP Dartmoor penitentiary , which was originally built in 1806 for prisoners from the Napoleonic Wars . The site is also home to the administrative center of the Duchy of Cornwall . Still in the center, but in the eastern half, is what is probably Dartmoors' most visited village, Widecombe-in-the-Moor . The 36 m high tower of the parish church can be seen from afar. It was built after 1638; That year, during a service, the building was struck by lightning, killing four.
Conservation issue
All of Dartmoor, both the landscape and the historical and archaeological sites, is threatened by the industrial complexes of Imrey and Watts Blake Bearne . They still have permission from the British government to exploit the kaolin mines near the moor. However, efforts are now being made to close these mines for nature conservation reasons.
The north-western part of the moor has been used by the British Army for maneuvering and target practice since the Napoleonic Wars. Recently, however, the Open Space Society and the Dartmoor Preservation Association have opposed this use and the damage it causes to the sensitive moorland with some success.
The use of water from Dartmoor also poses problems. The reservoir for the city of Paignton alone took up 33 hectares, and the number of dams and reservoirs has increased steadily since then. The damage to Dartmoor National Park as a result has also become the subject of discussion.
Dartmoor in literature
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The barren moor landscape of Dartmoor has always inspired the imagination of writers in a special way. Plymouth poet NT Carrington wrote the poem Dartmoor in 1826 , which would have almost won the Royal Society of Literature Prize that year if it had not been submitted late. King George IV was so impressed by the work that he had the poet assigned 50 guineas.
RD Blackmore gave a beautiful description of the region in 1881 in one of his lesser-known short stories, Christowell, a Dartmoor Tale .
The region-wide novel cycle by Eden Phillpotts, begun in 1898, has become extremely popular .
Most effectively Sir Arthur Conan Doyle portrayed the barreness and the often mystical atmosphere of the Dartmoor landscape in his detective thriller The Hound of Baskerville . Dartmoor is also the setting for the short story Silver Blaze , also written by him, about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson turns.
Sabine Baring-Gould roamed the barren Dartmoor landscape alone at a young age, following his pronounced penchant for the supernatural .
In the course of the Edgar Wallace films of the 1960s, the German crime film Das Wirtshaus von Dartmoor was made in 1964 based on the novel by Victor Gunn (actually Edwy Searles Brooks ; 1889-1965). The film's "Dartmoor shots" were made in West Berlin , however .
The Secret of Sittaford by Agatha Christie (in the original The Murder at Hazelmoor , 1931) takes place in a fictional place Sittaford on the edge of the Dartmoor.
The volume Five Friends in the Fog by the popular author Enid Blyton also plays in Dartmoor. The abandoned railway and the railways that still exist play a major role in this. Even Famous Five and the monster in the bog plays in Dartmoor; this episode deals with letterboxing popular in Dartmoor .
The novel Murder on ffolkes Manor by Gilbert Adair also plays in a mansion on the edge of Dartmoor.
The fourth novel in the David Hunter series by Simon Beckett , Rot , is partly set in Dartmoor.
The novel Im Schatten des Dartmoor by Jenny-Aline Veitinger also has this area as its setting.
The Dartmoor is still largely used as the setting for Teri Terry's "Book of lies". Here, too, the myths and legends that revolve around demonic dogs from hell, so-called hound dogs, are an important element of the plot.
Letterboxing
The hobby of letterboxing comes from the Dartmoor : You wander through the moor looking for hidden containers (plastic boxes , bags, chests) that can contain a stamp, a letter and references to other letterboxes . The impressions of these partly very artistically designed stamps are collected in their own stamp book . The coordinates or at least references to the locations of most letterboxes in Dartmoor are not published on the Internet, but only in a letterboxing manual that is available for purchase and is updated annually. Some letterboxes are not published at all, but should be found by chance.
literature
- Meyers Enzyklopädisches Lexikon, Volume 6. Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim 1973, p. 277.
- Encyclopædia Britannica: Britannica CD 99 Multimedia Edition.
- Tom Gant: Discover Dartmoor . Baron Jay, Plymouth 1978, ISBN 0-904593-06-1 .
- Robert Andrews: The Rough Guide to Devon & Cornwall. 3. Edition. Rough Guides, New York 2007, ISBN 978-1-84353-807-3 , p. 125.
- John Wyatt: The National Parks of England and Wales. Webb & Bower, Exeter 1998, ISBN 0-86350-155-9 , p. 20.
- Douglas Botting: Great Britain. Westermann, Braunschweig 1990, ISBN 3-07-509236-3 , p. 14.
- Dorothy Eagle (Editor): The Oxford Illustrated Literary Guide to Great Britain and Ireland. 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1992, ISBN 0-19-212988-0 , p. 62.
See also
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 34 ′ N , 4 ° 0 ′ W