The key characteristics of Dartmoor are . . .

150. Dartmoor

The key characteristics of Dartmoor are . . .

• Strong contrasts between open, windswept moors with wide views and sheltered landscapes of valleys and fringes. 

• Central high moorland with a wild landscape of tors, clitters, bogs, grassland, heather and bracken.

• Around the moorland core is a gentler landscape of small, irregular pasture fields with dry stone walls and banks, cut by large, terraced, wooded valleys which shelter farmsteads and hamlets. The valleys have steep-sided, fast-flowing streams and a network of sunken lanes.

• Main villages and towns lie beyond the outer edge of moor but are linked to it by ancient roads and lanes.

• Granite and slate in cottages, farmhouses, villages, abandoned mine buildings and walls, unifies the landscape.

• Mining industry has made a strong impact on the landscape, with dramatically-sited spoil heaps and ruins.

• Very high historic interest from Bronze Age onwards: particular features include highly visible features such as hut circles, standing stones, reaves, field systems, hillforts.

For further details on this character area and for an introduction to the region, please see the PDF documents in the box at the top right hand side of this page.