Two Bridges is an isolated location on the river
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 Dart ...
in the heart of
Dartmoor
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 ...
National Park in
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. It is situated around north east of
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 p ...
at the intersection of the two roads that cross Dartmoor: one is the old
turnpike
Turnpike often refers to:
* A type of gate, another word for a turnstile
* In the United States, a toll road
Turnpike may also refer to:
Roads United Kingdom
* A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...
road which was built across Dartmoor in the late 18th century (now known as the B3212);
the other is the B3357.
A map dated 1765 suggests the origin of the name, for in those days the road crossed both the
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 Dart ...
and the River Cowsic, just upstream from the point where they meet, and required two separate bridges.
By 1891, these had disappeared and there was just a single bridge, further downstream, over the West Dart. Today, however, there are again two bridges on the site, because a more modern structure has been added alongside its earlier predecessor. Visitors often mistakenly assume that these are the same two bridges that gave the name to the site.
In the 18th century, Two Bridges was best known for its potato market. Some small quarries in the vicinity show that there was also light industry in the area.
Those who met and worked in this remote spot were fed and lodged at the Saracen's Head. It was built in 1794 as a
coaching inn
The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of tra ...
, and still stands there today, although it is now known as th
Two Bridges Hotel.
It continues to be a popular meeting point for tourists and walkers. The area is also surrounded by prehistoric antiquities, including
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
settlements,
stone row
A stone row or stone alignment is a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones set at intervals along a common axis or series of axes, usually dating from the later Neolithic or Bronze Age.Power (1997), p.23 Rows may be in ...
s and an impressive
standing stone
A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright rock (geology), stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. T ...
, th
Beardown Man situated to the north. The
Devonport Leat
The Devonport Leat is a leat in Devon constructed in the 1790s to carry fresh drinking water from the high ground of Dartmoor to the expanding dockyards at Plymouth Dock (which was renamed as Devonport, Devon on 1 January 1824).
Feedwaters
It ...
—a man-made waterchannel—passes nearby.
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 ...
, a high-altitude oak wood, is to the north.
See also
*The Legend 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 of Devon, which was purported to have seen an unusually high number of motor vehicle accidents during the early 20th ...
(local ghost story)
References
{{coord, 50.558011, N, 3.965667, W, region:GB_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title
Dartmoor