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Clapper Bridge
A clapper bridge is an ancient form of bridge found on the moors of the English West Country ( Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor and Exmoor) and in other upland areas of the United Kingdom including Snowdonia and Anglesey, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and in northern Wester Ross and north-west Sutherland in Scotland. It is formed by large flat slabs of stone, often granite or schist. These can be supported on stone piers across rivers, or rest on the banks of streams. History Although often credited with prehistoric origin, most were erected in medieval times, and some in later centuries. They are often situated close to a ford where carts could cross. According to the Dartmoor National Park, the word 'clapper' derives ultimately from an Anglo-Saxon word, , meaning 'bridging the stepping stones'; the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives the intermediate Medieval Latin form , , "of Gaulish origin", with an initial meaning of "a pile of stones".French and Provençal ''cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tarr Steps
The Tarr Steps is a clapper bridge across the River Barle in the Exmoor National Park, Somerset, England. They are located in a national nature reserve about south east of Withypool and north west of Dulverton. A typical clapper bridge construction, the bridge's listing assesses it as medieval in origin. The stone slabs weigh up to two tons each. The bridge is long and has 17 spans. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building and scheduled monument. Nature reserve Owned by Exmoor National Park Authority, Tarr Steps Woodland National Nature Reserve covers 33 hectares of the River Barle valley. This is mainly sessile oak (''Quercus petraea'') woodland, with beech (Fagus), ash, sycamore (''Acer pseudoplatanus''), hazel (''Corylus''), blackberry (''Rubus''), bluebells (''Hyacinthoides non-scripta'') and honeysuckle (''Lonicera''). It is internationally significant for the mosses, liverworts and lichens which flourish in the cool damp conditions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wester Ross
Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to the west of the main watershed of Ross (the eastern part of Ross being Easter Ross), thus forming the western half of the county of Ross and Cromarty. The southwesternmost part of Ross and Cromarty, Lochalsh, is not considered part of Wester Ross by the local tourist organisation, ''Visit Wester Ross'', but is included within the definition used for the Wester Ross Biosphere Reserve.Wester Ross Biosphere Reserve Application. p. 2. Wester Ross has one of the lowest population densities in Europe, with just 1.6 people per km2, who live mostly in small crofting townships along the coastline of the region. The area is renowned for the scenic splendour of its mountains and coastline, and the range of wildlife that can be seen. It is a popular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stannary
A stannary was an administrative division established under stannary law in the English counties of Cornwall and Devon to manage the collection of tin coinage, which was the duty payable on the metal tin smelted from the ore cassiterite mined in the region. In Cornwall, the duty was passed to the Duchy of Cornwall; in Devon to the Crown. With the abolition of tin coinage in 1838 (following extensive petitioning by the Cornish tin industry for simplification of the taxation rules), the principal purpose of the stannaries ceased. In Cornwall, however, they retained certain historic rights to appoint stannators to the Cornish Stannary Parliament. Etymology The word ‘stannary’ is derived from the Middle English ''stannarie'', through Medieval Latin ''stannaria'' (‘tin mine’), ultimately from Late Latin ''stannum'' (‘ tin’) ( cf. the symbol for the chemical element Sn). The native Cornish word is ''sten'' and tin-workings ''stenegi''. In Cornwall There were four Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pack Horse
Pack or packs may refer to: Places * Pack, Austria, a municipality in Styria, Austria * Pack, Missouri * Chefornak Airport, Alaska, by ICAO airport code Groups of animals or people * Pack (canine), family structure of wild animals of the biological family Canidae * Cub scouts group, or a group or gang in a larger sense, as in ''Leader of the Pack'' * Pack hunter, other animals that hunt in a group * Peloton (French for "platoon"), in road bicycle race, the main group or pack of riders Containment, packaging, and shipping * Pack, a deck of playing cards * Backpack * Cigarette pack * Pack animal or beast of burden, an individual or type of working animal used by humans as means of transporting materials Other uses * Pack (surname) * Pack (aircraft), P.A.C.K (Pneumatic Air Cycle Kit), a kit containing an air cycle machine that provides air conditioning as part of an aircraft's environmental control system * Pack (compression), a UNIX utility to compress files using Huffma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dartmoor Tin-mining
The tin mining industry on Dartmoor, Devon, England, is thought to have originated in pre- Roman times, and continued right through to the 20th century, when the last commercially worked mine (Golden Dagger Mine) closed in November 1930 (though it saw work during the Second World War). From the 12th century onwards tin mining was regulated by a stannary parliament which had its own laws. Tin is smelted from cassiterite, a mineral found in hydrothermal veins in granite, and the uplands of Dartmoor were a particularly productive area. The techniques used for the extraction of tin from Dartmoor followed a progression from streaming through open cast mining to underground mining. Today, there are extensive archaeological remains of these three phases of the industry, as well as of the several stages of processing that were necessary to convert the ore to tin metal. Stannary law Mining became such an important part of life in the region that as early as the 12th century, tin mine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Postbridge, Devon
Postbridge is a hamlet in the heart of Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. It lies on the B3212, roughly midway between Princetown and Moretonhampstead. Postbridge is next to the East Dart river, one of two main tributaries of the River Dart, and consists of a few houses, a shop, a pub and hotel, and a national park tourist information centre. 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, a Grade II*-listed structure, is still complete, and stands alongside another bridge, a Grade II-listed structure built in the 1780s. The settlement is also infamous for the ghost story of the Hairy Hands The Hairy Hands is a ghost story/legend that built up around a stretch of road on a remote area of Dartmoor in the English county ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Postbridge Clapper Bridge 2005-07-21
Postbridge is a hamlet in the heart of Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. It lies on the B3212, roughly midway between Princetown and Moretonhampstead. Postbridge is next to the East Dart river, one of two main tributaries of the River Dart, and consists of a few houses, a shop, a pub and hotel, and a national park tourist information centre. 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, a Grade II*-listed structure, is still complete, and stands alongside another bridge, a Grade II-listed structure built in the 1780s. The settlement is also infamous for the ghost story of the Hairy Hands The Hairy Hands is a ghost story/legend that built up around a stretch of road on a remote area of Dartmoor in the English county ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a comprehensive resource to scholars and academic researchers, as well as describing usage in its many variations throughout the world. Work began on the dictionary in 1857, but it was only in 1884 that it began to be published in unbound Serial (literature), fascicles as work continued on the project, under the name of ''A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles; Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by The Philological Society''. In 1895, the title ''The Oxford English Dictionary'' was first used unofficially on the covers of the series, and in 1928 the full dictionary was republished in 10 bound volumes. In 1933, the title ''The Oxford English Dictionary'' fully replaced the former name in all occurrences in its reprinting as 12 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old English Language
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th century, and the first Old English literary works date from the mid-7th century. After the Norman conquest of 1066, English was replaced, for a time, by Anglo-Norman (a relative of French) as the language of the upper classes. This is regarded as marking the end of the Old English era, since during this period the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman, developing into a phase known now as Middle English in England and Early Scots in Scotland. Old English developed from a set of Anglo-Frisian or Ingvaeonic dialects originally spoken by Germanic tribes traditionally known as the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. As the Germanic settlers became dominant in England, their language replaced the languages of Roman Britain: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Parks Of England And Wales
National parks of the United Kingdom ( cy, parciau cenedlaethol; gd, pàircean nàiseanta) are areas of relatively undeveloped and scenic landscape across the country. Despite their name, they are quite different from national parks in many other countries, which are usually owned and managed by governments as protected community resources, and which do not usually include permanent human communities. In the United Kingdom, an area designated as a national park may include substantial settlements and human land uses that are often integral parts of the landscape. Land within national parks remains largely in private ownership. These parks are therefore not "national parks" according to the internationally accepted standard of the IUCN but they are areas of outstanding landscape where planning controls are a little more restrictive than elsewhere. Within the United Kingdom there are fourteen national parks of which nine are in England, three in Wales and two in Scotland. Ther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ford (crossing)
A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading, or inside a vehicle getting its wheels wet. A ford may occur naturally or be constructed. Fords may be impassable during high water. A low-water crossing is a low bridge that allows crossing over a river or stream when water is low but may be treated as a ford when the river is high and water covers the crossing. Description A ford is a much cheaper form of river crossing than a bridge, and it can transport much more weight than a bridge, but it may become impassable after heavy rain or during flood conditions. A ford is therefore normally only suitable for very minor roads (and for paths intended for walkers and horse riders etc.). Most modern fords are usually shallow enough to be crossed by cars and other wheeled or tracked vehicles (a process known as "fording"). Fords may be accompanied by stepping stones for pedestrians. The United Kingdom has more than 2,000 fords, and mos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralized authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East—most recently part of the Eastern Roman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
