HOME
*



picture info

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 Period of geological history. The landscape consists of moorland capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The highest point is High Willhays, above sea level. The entire area is rich in antiquities and archaeology. Dartmoor National Park is managed by the Dartmoor National Park Authority, whose 22 members are drawn from Devon County Council, local district councils and Government. Parts of Dartmoor have been used as military firing ranges 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 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

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 Period of geological history. The landscape consists of moorland capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The highest point is High Willhays, above sea level. The entire area is rich in antiquities and archaeology. Dartmoor National Park is managed by the Dartmoor National Park Authority, whose 22 members are drawn from Devon County Council, local district councils and Government. Parts of Dartmoor have been used as military firing ranges 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 o ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

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 to March 1974) and the Dartmoor National Park Committee from 1 April 1974. History Dartmoor, in the county of Devon, is 368 square miles (954 km2) in area. It was designated as one of the National Parks of England and Wales by statute in 1951; it has over 34,000 people living in it, and some 2.2 million people visited it in 2011. First incarnation For the first 23 years of its existence, Dartmoor National Park was administered by a special committee of Devon County Council,Mercer 2009, p. 326 the "Dartmoor Sub-Committee". During this time the major proposals dealt with by the committee included extensions of china clay workings and coniferous plantations (which did not take place); the erection of a television transmitting mast at N ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Dartmoor Training Area
The Dartmoor Training Area (DTA) is a military training area on Dartmoor in Devon in southwest England. The area consists of approximately in the Dartmoor National Park.MoD Public Information Leaflet
(website accessed: 26/08/10)


History

The British army has been using Dartmoor for training purposes since around 1800. After the opening of HMP Dartmoor in 1809, the battalion of soldiers guarding the around 5,000 prisoners there began practising musketry at a firing range at Hart Tor. Over the next decades, troops stationed around Plymouth trained in the area, notably in 1853 before and during the Crimean War. In addition, the local Militia (United Kingdom), Militia also kept in a high state of re ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Cornubian Batholith
The Cornubian batholith is a large mass of granite rock, formed about 280 million years ago, which lies beneath much of Devon and Cornwall, the south-western peninsula of Great Britain. The main exposed masses of granite are seen at Dartmoor, Bodmin Moor, St Austell, Carnmenellis, Land's End and the Isles of Scilly. The intrusion is associated with significant quantities of minerals particularly cassiterite, an ore of tin which has been mined since about 2000 BC. Other minerals include china clay and ores of copper, lead, zinc and tungsten. It takes its name from ''Cornubia'', the Medieval Latin name for Cornwall. Extent and geometry A batholith is a large mass of intrusive rock formed from the crystallization of molten rock beneath the Earth's surface (magma). From gravity and magnetic geophysical data, the batholith is interpreted to extend from about 8°W, more than 100 km southwest of the Isles of Scilly, to the eastern edge of Dartmoor. The negative gravity anomaly, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

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 Ilsington. There is an electoral ward with the same name. The population at the 2011 census is 2,862. History ''Idetordoune'' (1566), ''Ittor Doune'' (1687), ''Idetor'' (1737), ''Eator Down'' (1762) and ''Itterdown'' (1789) are a few recorded examples of earlier names by which Haytor was known. The name ''Haytor'' is of comparatively recent origin, and is probably a corruption of its old name and that of the Haytor Hundred, which covered the coastal area between the River Teign and River Dart, itself now considered to have been named after a lost village located somewhere between Totnes and Newton Abbot. In the 19th century steps were made to allow pedestrians up to the top of the tor and a metal handrail fixed to allow tourists easie ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


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 specified tors. The majority of entrants are schools, colleges, Scout groups and Cadet squadrons from South West England, though groups from across the UK have regularly taken part, as have teams from Australia and New Zealand. However, from 2012, only teams from the South West of England are eligible to take part, due to the large numbers of entrants. Event format Teams of six are required to visit ten specified tors; on the top of each tor is a checkpoint. Each team is required to visit all of the specified checkpoints in order. Up to two members per team may fall out during the Challenge; teams falling below this number could merge in earlier years, while later rules required a badly reduced team to forfeit. There are 26 different r ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


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 Southern England. Toponymy In 1912, William Crossing, writer and documenter, said that the name ''High Willes'' had been thought to have derived from the word ''huel'' or ''wheal'' meaning ''mine'', but he did not think that very likely as old mine workings were invariably located near to streams. He suggested instead that the name derived from ''gwylfa'', a watching place, noting its similarity with ''Brown Willy'', the name of the highest hill on nearby Bodmin Moor, and suggested that a watch for beacon fires used to be kept here. He also posited a possible link to the word ''gwili'' meaning winding or tortuous, but said it was unlikely this was where it originated from. ''The Place-Names of Devon'' (1931) notes that the peak was named ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

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 a coastal county with cliffs and sandy beaches. Home to the largest open space in southern England, Dartmoor (), the county is predominately rural and has a relatively low population density for an English county. The county is bordered by Somerset to the north east, Dorset to the east, and Cornwall to the west. The county is split into the non-metropolitan districts of East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge, West Devon, Exeter, and the unitary authority areas of Plymouth, and Torbay. Combined as a ceremonial county, Devon's area is and its population is about 1.2 million. Devon derives its name from Dumnonia (the shift from ''m'' to ''v'' is a typical Celtic consonant shift) ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

National Parks Of England And Wales
National parks of the United Kingdom ( cy, parciau cenedlaethol; gd, pàircean nàiseanta) are areas of relatively undeveloped and scenic landscape across the country. Despite their name, they are quite different from national parks in many other countries, which are usually owned and managed by governments as protected community resources, and which do not usually include permanent human communities. In the United Kingdom, an area designated as a national park may include substantial settlements and human land uses that are often integral parts of the landscape. Land within national parks remains largely in private ownership. These parks are therefore not "national parks" according to the internationally accepted standard of the IUCN but they are areas of outstanding landscape where planning controls are a little more restrictive than elsewhere. Within the United Kingdom there are fourteen national parks of which nine are in England, three in Wales and two in Scotland. There ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Tor (rock Formation)
A tor, which is also known by geomorphologists as either a castle koppie or kopje, is a large, free-standing rock outcrop that rises abruptly from the surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest. In the South West of England, the term is commonly also used for the hills themselves – particularly the high points of Dartmoor in Devon and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.Ehlen, J. (2004) ''Tor'' in Goudie, A., ed., pp. 1054-1056. ''Encyclopedia of Geomorphology.'' Routledge. London, England. Etymology Although English topographical names often have a Celtic etymology, the Oxford English Dictionary lists no cognates to the Old English word in either the Breton or Cornish languages (the Scottish Gaelic ''tòrr'' is thought to derive from the Old English word). It is therefore accepted that the English word ''Tor'' derives from the Old Welsh word ''tẁrr'' or ''twr'', meaning a cluster or heap. Formation Tors are landforms created by the erosion and w ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Tor (rock Formation)
A tor, which is also known by geomorphologists as either a castle koppie or kopje, is a large, free-standing rock outcrop that rises abruptly from the surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest. In the South West of England, the term is commonly also used for the hills themselves – particularly the high points of Dartmoor in Devon and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.Ehlen, J. (2004) ''Tor'' in Goudie, A., ed., pp. 1054-1056. ''Encyclopedia of Geomorphology.'' Routledge. London, England. Etymology Although English topographical names often have a Celtic etymology, the Oxford English Dictionary lists no cognates to the Old English word in either the Breton or Cornish languages (the Scottish Gaelic ''tòrr'' is thought to derive from the Old English word). It is therefore accepted that the English word ''Tor'' derives from the Old Welsh word ''tẁrr'' or ''twr'', meaning a cluster or heap. Formation Tors are landforms created by the erosion and w ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

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's Bound Stone and it marks the boundary of three civil parishes: Dartmoor Forest, Holne and Buckfastleigh. The cairn, which is not very prominent, has an important history. It was one of the boundary markers of the Forest of Dartmoor mentioned in the Perambulation of 1240 and has been known as "Knattleborough" (or variations of that name) since at least the 17th century. Ryder's Hill can be reached by walking up Holne Ridge from Combestone Tor Combestone Tor is a granite tor on Dartmoor, England. It is above sea level. The tor is considered a popular destination for tourists. References External links Dartmoor Tors of Dartmoor {{UK-geology-stub ..., past Horn's Cross, a distance of about 3 km. From the summit the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]