Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by
National Park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers .
The
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
which forms the uplands dates from the
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
Period of geological history. The landscape consists of moorland capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as
tor
Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to:
Places
* Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain
* Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city
* Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano
* Tor Bay, Devon, England
* Tor River, Western New Guinea, Indonesia
Sc ...
s, providing habitats for
Dartmoor wildlife
Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers .
The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous P ...
. The highest point is
High Willhays
High Willhays ( , ), or according to some authorities High Willes, is the highest point on Dartmoor, Devon, at above sea level,Dartmoor National Park Authority, General Information: Dartmoor Factsheet', 2004, p. 1 and the highest point in S ...
, above sea level. The entire area is rich in antiquities and
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
.
Dartmoor National Park is managed by the
Dartmoor National Park Authority
The Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) is a national park authority in England, legally responsible for Dartmoor in Devon. It came into existence in its present form in 1997, being preceded by a committee of Devon County Council (from 1951 t ...
firing range
A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by militar ...
s for over 200 years. The public is granted extensive land access rights on Dartmoor (including restricted access to the firing ranges) and it is a popular tourist destination.
Physical geography
Geology
Dartmoor includes the largest area of
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
in Britain, with about at the surface, though most of it is under superficial
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
deposits. The granite (or more specifically adamellite) was intruded at depth as a pluton into the surrounding sedimentary rocks during the
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
period, probably about 309 million years ago. It is generally accepted that the present surface is not far below the original top of the pluton; evidence for this includes partly digested shale
xenolith
A xenolith ("foreign rock") is a rock fragment ( country rock) that becomes enveloped in a larger rock during the latter's development and solidification. In geology, the term ''xenolith'' is almost exclusively used to describe inclusions in ig ...
s, contamination of the granite and the existence of two patches of altered
sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...
on top of the granite.
A considerable
gravity anomaly
The gravity anomaly at a location on the Earth's surface is the difference between the observed value of gravity and the value predicted by a theoretical model. If the Earth were an ideal oblate spheroid of uniform density, then the gravity meas ...
is associated with the Dartmoor pluton as with other such plutons. Measurement of the anomaly has helped to determine the likely shape and extent of the rock mass at depth.
Tors
Dartmoor is known for its
tor
Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to:
Places
* Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain
* Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city
* Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano
* Tor Bay, Devon, England
* Tor River, Western New Guinea, Indonesia
Sc ...
s – hills topped with outcrops of bedrock, which in
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
country such as this are usually rounded boulder-like formations. More than 160 of the hills of Dartmoor have the word ''tor'' in their name but quite a number do not. However, this does not appear to relate to whether or not there is an outcrop of rock on their summit. The tors are the focus of an annual event known as the
Ten Tors Challenge
Ten Tors is an annual weekend hike in early May, on Dartmoor, southwest England. Organised by the British Army, starting in 1960, it brings together teams of six young people each, with the 2,400 young participants hiking to checkpoints on ten s ...
, when around 2400 people aged between 14 and 19 walk for distances of 56, 72 or 88 km (35, 45 or 55 mi) between ten tors on many differing routes.
The highest points on Dartmoor are on the northern moor:
High Willhays
High Willhays ( , ), or according to some authorities High Willes, is the highest point on Dartmoor, Devon, at above sea level,Dartmoor National Park Authority, General Information: Dartmoor Factsheet', 2004, p. 1 and the highest point in S ...
, , () and
Yes Tor
Yes Tor is the second highest point on Dartmoor, Devon, South West England, at above sea level. It is one of only two wholly English peaks south of the Peak District National Park—the other being nearby High Willhays—that are above .
It l ...
, , () The highest points on the southern moor are
Ryder's Hill
At 515 m, Ryder's Hill is the highest point on the southern part of Dartmoor, Devon, England. On its summit there are two standing stones and a low cairn, on top of which is a triangulation pillar.
One of the standing stones is called Petre ...
, , (), Snowdon , (), and an unnamed point, at (), between Langcombe Hill and Shell Top. The best-known tor on Dartmoor is
Haytor
Haytor, also known as Haytor Rocks, Hay Tor, or occasionally Hey Tor, is a granite tor on the eastern edge of Dartmoor in the English county of Devon.
Location
The tor is at grid reference , near the village of Haytor Vale in the parish of Il ...
(called Hey Tor by William Crossing), , (). For a more complete list see
List of Dartmoor tors and hills
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
.
Rivers
The high ground of Dartmoor forms the
catchment area
In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...
for many of Devon's rivers. As well as shaping the landscape, these have traditionally provided a source of power for moor industries such as
tin mining
Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with approximately 2 ppm (parts per million), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm.
History
Tin extraction and use can ...
and quarrying.
The moor takes its name from the
River Dart
The River Dart is a river in Devon, England, that rises high on Dartmoor and flows for to the sea at Dartmouth.
Name
Most hydronyms in England derive from the Brythonic language (from which the river's subsequent names ultimately derive fr ...
, which starts as the
East Dart
The East Dart River is one of the two main tributaries of the River Dart in Devon, England.
Its source is to the west of Whitehorse Hill and slightly south of Cranmere Pool on Dartmoor. It flows south and then south-west for around 9 km to ...
and
West Dart
The West Dart River is one of the two main tributaries of the River Dart in Devon, England.
Its source is about 2 km north of Rough Tor on north Dartmoor. It flows south to Two Bridges, then south east past Hexworthy to meet the East Dar ...
and then becomes a single river at
Dartmeet
Dartmeet is a popular tourist spot in the centre of Dartmoor, Devon, England at .
It lies at the end of the B3357 road, about east of Two Bridges. From here, the road continues eastwards as a minor road with restrictions on the size of vehic ...
. It leaves the moor at
Buckfastleigh
Buckfastleigh is a market town and civil parish in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway ( A38) at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge and, for ecclesiastical purposes, lies within the Totnes Deanery ...
, flowing through
Totnes
Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and abo ...
below where it opens up into a long
ria
A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea.
Definitions
Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...
, reaching the sea at Dartmouth. Other rivers flowing from Dartmoor include the
Teign
Teigne (also : Teign, Tègne, Teeñ, Tin or Tañ in Wolof language) was the title of the monarch of the pre-colonial Kingdom of Baol, now part of present-day Senegal.
In Wolof, "Teigne" means the support that is placed on the head to carry so ...
Lyd Lyd may refer to:
* LYD, the abbreviation for a Libyan dinar
* PKP class Lyd2
The PKP class Lyd2 (manufacturer designation L30H) is a narrow gauge diesel-hydraulic locomotive built by FAUR (former 23 August Works) in Romania, for use initially ...
.
Some of the rivers in Dartmoor have been dammed to create reservoirs for drinking water, including the River Avon and the South Teign River (Fernworthy Reservoir).
Bogs
Much more rain falls on Dartmoor than in the surrounding lowlands. As much of the national park is covered in thick layers of
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
(decaying vegetation), the rain is usually absorbed quickly and distributed slowly, so the moor is rarely dry. In areas where water accumulates, dangerous bogs or mires can result. Some of these, topped with bright green moss, are known to locals as "feather beds" or "quakers", because they can shift (or 'quake') beneath a person's feet. Quakers result from sphagnum moss growing over the water that accumulates in the hollows in the granite.
The vegetation of the bogs depends on the type and location.
Blanket bog
Blanket bog or blanket mire, also known as featherbed bog, is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses o ...
, which forms on the highest land where the rainfall exceeds a year, consists mainly of cotton-grass (''
Eriophorum
''Eriophorum'' (cottongrass, cotton-grass or cottonsedge) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cyperaceae, the sedge family. They are found throughout the arctic, subarctic, and temperate portions of the Northern Hemisphere in acid bo ...
'' species), sedges (''
Carex
''Carex'' is a vast genus of more than 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus ''Carex'' ...
Bog Asphodel
''Narthecium ossifragum'', commonly known as bog asphodel, Lancashire asphodel or bastard asphodel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Nartheciaceae. It is native to Western Europe, found on wet, boggy moorlands up to about in ele ...
'' and ''
Common Tormentil
''Potentilla erecta'' (syn. ''Tormentilla erecta'', ''Potentilla laeta'', ''Potentilla tormentilla'', known as the (common) tormentil, septfoil or erect cinquefoil ) is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the rose family ( Rosaceae).
Descr ...
'', with ''
Sphagnum
''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store wa ...
'' thriving in the wettest patches. The valley bogs have lush growth of rushes, with sphagnum,
cross-leaved heath
''Erica tetralix'', the cross-leaved heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to western Europe, from southern Portugal to central Norway, as well as a number of boggy regions further from the coast in Central Europ ...
, sundews and several other species.
Some of the bogs on Dartmoor have achieved notoriety. Fox Tor Mires was supposedly the inspiration for Great Grimpen Mire in Conan Doyle's novel ''
The Hound of the Baskervilles
''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from August 1901 to April 1902, it is se ...
'', although there is a waymarked footpath across it.
Sabine Baring-Gould
Sabine Baring-Gould ( ; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,2 ...
, in his ''Book of Dartmoor'' (1900) related the story of a man who was making his way through Aune Mire at the head of the River Avon when he came upon a top-hat brim down on the surface of the mire. He kicked it, whereupon a voice called out: "What be you a-doin' to my 'at?" The man replied, "Be there now a chap under'n?" "Ees, I reckon," was the reply, "and a hoss under me likewise."
Climate
Along with the rest of
South West England
South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities ...
, Dartmoor has a
temperate climate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...
which is generally wetter and milder than locations at similar height in the rest of England. At
Princetown
Princetown is a villageDespite its name, Princetown is not classed as a town today – it is not included in the County Council's list of the 29 towns in Devon: located within Dartmoor national park in the English county of Devon. It is the ...
, near the centre of the moor at a height of , January and February are the coldest months with mean minimum temperatures around . July and August are the warmest months with mean daily maxima not reaching . Compared with
Teignmouth
Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about 12 miles south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14,749 at th ...
, which is on the coast about to the east, the average maximum and minimum temperatures are and lower respectively, and frost is at least five times as frequent.Webb 2006, p. 30 On the highest ground, in the north of the moor, the growing season is less than 175 days – this contrasts with some 300 days along most of the south coast of the county.
Rainfall
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. In summer, convection caused by solar surface heating sometimes forms shower clouds and a large proportion of rainfall falls from showers and thunderstorms at this time of year. The wettest months are November and December and on the highest parts of the moor the average annual total rainfall is over . This compares with less than in the lower land to the east around the
Exe Estuary
The Exe estuary is an estuary on the south coast of Devon, England.
The estuary starts just to the south () of the city of Exeter, and extends south for approximately eight miles to meet the English Channel (). The estuary is a ria and so is la ...
, which is in the rain shadow of the moor. Due to the influence of the Gulf Stream snowfall is not common, though due to its high altitude it is more vulnerable to snowfall than surrounding regions.Webb 2006, p. 31
Between 1961 and 1990 Met Office data shows that there was an average of 20 days when snow fell on the moor, and over 40 days a year with hail, which is as high as anywhere else in the country. This results when cold polar maritime air that has travelled over a large expanse of warmer ocean is forced to rise over high country.
When average temperatures at Princetown between 1961 and 2000 are compared, the average annual temperature in the decade 1990–2000 was up by and the late winter temperature increased by .Webb 2006, pp. 32–33
Wildlife
Because of Dartmoor's height and granite geology, it experiences strong winds and has acidic soils. In consequence it has been subject to very little
intensive farming
Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of ...
, and all these factors combine to form the basis of the important ecosystems found here. The landscape is one of granite with
peat bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
s overlying it. While the
moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
topped with granite tors are the most iconic part of Dartmoor's landscape, only about half of Dartmoor is actually moorland. Equally important for wildlife are the
blanket bog
Blanket bog or blanket mire, also known as featherbed bog, is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses o ...
s, upland heaths and the oak woodlands which are all of global importance. Dartmoor is a
Special Area of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and a ...
(SAC) with four habitats (''Northern Atlantic wet heaths with Erica tetralix''; ''European dry heaths''; ''Blanket bog''s and ''Old sessile oak woods with Ilex and Blechnum in the British Isles'') being listed as primary reasons for the selection of Dartmoor as a SAC. In addition the area has a population of the
southern damselfly
''Coenagrion mercuriale'', the southern damselfly, is a species of damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae. It is found in Algeria, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, S ...
which is also a primary reason for its selection along with populations of
Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are ...
Wistman's Wood
Wistman's Wood is one of three remote high-altitude oakwoods on Dartmoor, Devon, England.
Geography
The wood lies at an altitude of 380–410 metres in the valley of the West Dart River near Two Bridges, at grid reference SX612772.
The sourc ...
is one of the old sessile oak woods which contribute to the listing of Dartmoor as a SAC and is possibly a surviving fragment from the earliest
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
woodland clearances. It is home to exceptional epiphytic mosses, liverworts and lichens. Nearly 50 species of moss and liverwort are found in the wood along with 120 types of lichen, including Smith's horsehair lichen, speckled sea-storm lichen and pendulous wing-moss. Over 60 species of lichens grow on the exposed surfaces of the granite tors, including granite-speck rim-lichen, purple rock lichen, brown cobblestone lichen and goldspot lichen and many rare lichen grow on rocks exposed by mining which are rich in heavy metals. On the upland heaths heather (
ling
Ling may refer to:
Fictional characters
* Ling, an ally of James Bond's from the film ''You Only Live Twice''
* Ling, a character in the ''Mulan'' franchise
* Ling, a playable character from the mobile game '' Mobile Legends: Bang Bang''
* Ling ...
) and
bell heather
''Erica cinerea'', the bell heather, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to western and central Europe.
The plant provides a great deal of nectar for pollinators. It was rated in the top 5 for most nectar produ ...
are common along with
western gorse
''Ulex gallii'', the western gorse or dwarf furzeA R Clapham, T G Tutin, E F Warburg, ''Flora of the British Isles'', Cambridge, 1962, p. 332 is an evergreen shrub in the pea family (Fabaceae), native to the Atlantic coasts of western Europe: sou ...
. In dry grassy areas
tormentil
''Potentilla'' is a genus containing over 300Guillén, A., et al. (2005)Reproductive biology of the Iberian species of ''Potentilla'' L. (Rosaceae).''Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid'' 1(62) 9–21. species of annual, biennial and perenni ...
,
heath bedstraw
''Galium saxatile'' or heath bedstraw is a plant species of the genus ''Galium''. It is related to cleavers.
''Galium saxatile'' is a perennial mat-forming herb, found on grassland, moors, heaths and woods. It can reach a height of , and flower ...
and
heath milkwort Heath milkwort is a common name for several plants and may refer to the following species:
*'' Comesperma ericinum'', from Australia
*'' Polygala serpyllifolia'', from Europe
{{Short pages monitor
{{authority control
Dartmoor,
National parks in England
Hills of Devon
Special Areas of Conservation in England
Duchy of Cornwall
Geology of Devon
Geography of Devon
Parks and open spaces in Devon
Protected areas established in 1951
Common land in England
Natural regions of England
Moorlands of England
Sherlock Holmes