tones or longstones), stone circles, kistvaens, cairns and stone rows are to be found on the moor. The most significant sites include:
Beardown Man, near Devil's Tor - isolated standing stone 3.5 m (11 ft) high, said to have another 1 m (3.3 ft) below ground. grid reference SX596796
Challacombe, near the prehistoric settlement of Grimspound - triple stone row. grid reference SX689807
Drizzlecombe, east of Sheepstor village - stone circles, rows, standing stones, kistvaens and cairns. grid reference SX591669
Grey Wethers, near Postbridge - double circle, aligned almost exactly north south. grid reference SX638831
Laughter Tor, near Two Bridges - standing stone 2.4 m (7.9 ft) high and two double stone rows, one 164 m (540 ft) long. grid reference SX652753
Merrivale, between Princetown and Tavistock - includes a double stone row 182 m (600 ft) long, 1.1 m (3.6 ft) wide, aligned almost exactly east-west), stone circles and a kistvaen. grid reference SX554747
Scorhill, west of Chagford - circle, 26.8 m (88 ft) in circumference, and stone rows. grid reference SX654873
Shovel Down, north of Fernworthy reservoir - double stone row approximately 120 m (390 ft) long. grid reference SX660859
There are also an estimated 5,000 hut circles still surviving today, despite the fact that many have been raided over the centuries by the builders of the traditional dry stone walls. These are the remnants of Bronze Age houses. The smallest are around 1.8 m (6 ft) in diameter, and the largest may be up to five times this size.
Some have L-shaped porches to protect against wind and rain - some particularly good examples are to be found at Grimspound. It is believed that they would have had a conical roof, supported by timbers and covered in turf or thatch.
Many ancient structures, including the hut circles at Grimspound, were reconstructed during the 19 th century - most notably by civil engineer and historian Richard Hansford Worth. Some of this work was based more on speculation than archaeological expertise, and has since been criticised for its inaccuracy.
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The historical period
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The climate worsened over the course of a thousand years from around 1000 BC, so that much of high Dartmoor was largely abandoned by its early inhabitants.
It was not until the early medieval period that the weather again became warmer, and settlers moved back onto the moors. Like their ancient forebears, they also used the natural granite to build their homes, preferring a style known as the longhouse - Some of which are still inhabited today, although they have been clearly adapted over the centuries. Many are now being used as farm buildings, while others were abandoned and fell into ruin.
The earliest surviving farms, still in operation today, are known as the Ancient Tenements. Most of these date back to the 14 th century and sometimes earlier.
Some way into the moor stands the town of Princetown, the site of the notorious Dartmoor Prison, which was originally built both by, and for, prisoners of war from the Napoleonic Wars. The prison has a (now misplaced) reputation for being escape-proof, both due to the buildings themselves and its physical location.
The Dartmoor landscape is scattered with the marks left by the many generations who have lived and worked there over the centuries - such as the remains of the once mighty Dartmoor tin-mining industry, and farmhouses long since abandoned. Indeed the industrial archaeology of Dartmoor is a subject in its own right.
Myths and literature
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Dartmoor abounds with myths and legends. It is reputedly the haunt of pixies, a headless horseman, a mysterious pack of 'spectral hounds', and a large black dog. During the Great Thunderstorm of 1638, Dartmoor was even said to have been visited by the Devil.
Many landmarks have ancient legends and ghost stories associated with them, such as Jay's Grave, the ancient burial site at Childe's Tomb, the rock pile called Bowerman's Nose, and the stone crosses that mark mediaeval routes across the moor.
A few stories have emerged in recent decades, such as the 'hairy hands', that are said to attack travellers on the B3212 near Two Bridges.
Dartmoor has inspired a number of artists and writers, such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventure of Silver Blaze , Eden Phillpotts, Beatrice Chase, Agatha Christie and the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould. br/>
Towns
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and villages
Dartmoor has a resident population of about 33,400, which swells considerably during holiday periods with incoming tourists. For a list, expand the Settlements of Dartmoor navigational box...
