Step back in Time

©Baz Richardson - Wheal Betsy

©Wendy Radford - Cosdon Hill Stone Row

When you gaze out across Dartmoor’s high moorland and empty wild spaces, it is hard to believe that you are looking at a landscape that has been managed for over six thousand years.

Dartmoor’s first occupants were hunter-gatherers and, all over the moor, you can find archaeological evidence of our occupation of the land, right from the first ancient hunting communities, all the way through to today’s hill farmers and visitors. It is this sense of history that makes Dartmoor such an exciting and interesting place to explore.

When humans first came here, exposed tors would have been flanked on either side by densely wooded valleys, the remnants of which can still be found in the ancient woodlands of Dartmoor. These are best represented by the famous Wistman’s Wood and Black a Tor Copse, with their dense stands of gnarled, moss-covered oaks.

©Visit Dartmoor - Wistman’s Wood

Throughout the Neolithic and through the Bronze and Iron ages, successive introductions of new farming techniques pushed back the boundaries of the woodland. The remains of settlements high up on the moor attest to a different landscape and a warmer climate to that which we experience today.

Grimspound is a spectacular example of one of these settlements, with the remains of many houses and an intact boundary wall. Dartmoor has the largest concentration of Bronze Age remains anywhere in the UK.

More information on the Visit Dartmoor website.

visitdartmoor.co.uk/archaeology