In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Dartmoor like this:
DARTMOOR, an upland tract in Devon, situated between Okehampton on the north, Moreton-Hampstead on the north-east, Ashburton on the south-east, and Tavistock on the south-west. Its length, north and south, is 22 miles; its breadth, about 20 miles; its area, about 130, 000 acres; and its mean elevation, about 1, 700 feet. ...
The greater part of it was afforested by King John, under the name of Dartmoor Forest; given by Henry III. to his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall; and annexed, in the time of Edward III., to the Duchy of Cornwall. It consists entirely of granite; has a wildly hilly, rugged, shattered surface; and embosoms a great morass, whence issue the rivers Dart, Teign, Tavy, and Taw. Multitudes of its summits are rocky peaks, provincially called tors; many of them fantastically outlined, looking like ruined castles or uncouth animal forms; four of them respectively 2, 050, 1, 792, 1, 549, and 1, 203 feet high, and no fewer than 150 mentioned by name in a note to Carrington's poem of "Dartmoor." Micaceous iron ore and stream tin occur; copper and tin mines are worked; and peat fuel is dug. The antiquities and the natural history are extensive and interesting; and have been described in Rowe's "Perambulation of Dartmoor" published in 1848. A large war-prison was built in 1808, on an elevated spot under Tor Royal; converted afterwards into a factory for naphtha, ammonia, and other products from the bogs; and changed subsequently into a place for convicts.
Dartmoor through time
Dartmoor is now part of West Devon district. Click here for graphs and data of how West Devon has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Dartmoor itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Dartmoor in West Devon | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/24659
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
Not where you were looking for?
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Dartmoor".
