When the sun shines on Dartmoor it glows, picking out the rocky hills called tors. When the clouds descend, the wind lashes and the rain is nearly horizontal, it can be one of the bleakest places imaginable.

Its sparsely inhabited landscapes, almost entirely cleared of their natural forests, are linked with tales of ghosts and witches. Its legends inspired the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, to write The Hound of the Baskervilles. Close to its centre lies one of Britain’s most isolated prisons, rising starkly from the moors and built of the hard local stone, granite.

Dartmoor can appear an empty, desolate environment yet it is full of intriguing clues to our past. This walk explores both the physical and human evolution of the moor over time.

It was suggested by Alison Thomas who has lived on the edge of Dartmoor for thirty years. During this time she has enjoyed walking, cycling and exploring Dartmoor in all weathers and grown to love the wild rawness of the landscape.

Working with Pat Wilson, physical geographer and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, they developed this walk to introduce you to and help you understand Dartmoor’s atmospheric beauty.

We’re now standing at 400 metres above sea level and all around are the highest areas of Dartmoor. Hopefully the view is good! If it isn’t then you’re experiencing typical moorland weather. This upland landscape is very often wet and windswept.

Look at the map to locate the distinctive rugged crags of Birch Tor visible on the skyline. On a good day, you might also be able to pick out Hookney Tor on the eastern horizon. Between the areas of higher ground notice the gentle, open valleys grown with heather, scrub and stunted trees. Tiny streams like the Walla Brook we have just crossed are another typical feature of this moorland landscape.

So how did this unusual landscape of undulating valleys and craggy tors originate? It’s a surprising story so let’s try and understand it. Where the moor now stands was once a great mountain chain created by huge tectonic movements in the Earth some 280 million years ago. At the same time, deep within, molten magma was forcing its way into the cores of these mountains. It solidified as granite several miles below the surface.

Now fast-forward tens of millions of years. The mountains have been eroded away by the elements, leaving the core of granite exposed at the surface to create Dartmoor and the other granite moors of southwest England.

The tors are like pimples left exposed on the very highest areas of Dartmoor. Made of the same granite, they are simply the tougher areas of rock that are more resistant to being weathered and eroded. They remain today as upstanding rocky masses, often silhouetted against the skyline.

The bridge you’re standing on is a good example of a traditional Devon clapper bridge made from granite slabs taken from the surrounding landscape.

Take a look around. The bumpy landscape and jumbles of stone around you are all that’s left of Dartmoor’s most significant industry – tin mining.

This area was part of the Birch Tor and Vitifer Mine which covered an area of four square miles, making it the most extensive surface mining operation on Dartmoor.

Tin was mined here for about 800 years from the medieval period up to the twentieth century. The area is still scarred by its waste heaps, gullies and stone ruins. Stopping in this quiet, tranquil spot it is difficult to imagine this area was once a hive of industry employing over a hundred people, including women and children.

From this vantage point on the bridge you can get an idea of the extent of the mine’s workings. Standing with your back to the hill, behind you was the blacksmiths’ forge and the miners’ ‘dry‘ where the miners changed out of their wet clothes. Beside you on your right was the carpentry workshop, while in front are the remains of a dormitory, forge, gardens, a bungalow for miners’ families and the mine captain’s office.

Unfortunately during the Second World War, unexploded bombs were brought here from Plymouth to detonate them safely, and many of the mining remains were badly damaged in the process.

On the hillside are several small walled enclosures. Miners used them for growing vegetables but originally they were used for growing a food called furze for rabbits. We will find out more about the significance of these rabbits when we go over the hill.

We have just seen the remains of an important tin mine but what is tin and where does it come from? Back to our geology lesson...

When the magma cooled deep below the Earth’s crust, warm fluids circulated between the joints within the granite. These fluids contained a mix of all the chemicals necessary to produce various minerals including tin.

A typical mineral vein from the Birch Tor and Vitifer Mine might include tin ore and iron ore. They all grew together intertwined with the mineral quartz. These minerals crystallised at different temperatures forming veins or lodes within the cooling granite.

These lodes were then worked out by the miners in a variety of ways. For centuries water flowing from rivers and streams naturally eroded lodes found close to the surface and carried the minerals downstream.

From at least the eleventh century these alluvial ores were dug out by hand in a system known as ‘streaming’. Nearly every river on the moor shows signs of this type of extraction which was similar to gold panning. Later in the walk we will see evidence of this early process.

The ridges that we can see here to the right of the path are spoil heaps. They’re evidence of a later stage of mineral extraction.

When the stream works ran out, the miners turned their attention to digging out the mineral lodes at the surface. These lodes ran parallel across the hillsides often in a north-east/southwest direction.

In digging them out the miners created enormously deep gulleys known as ‘gerts’ just like the one you are looking into on your right.

Unlike streaming which used the naturally occurring rivers and streams to wash out the tin, water was brought in by artificial channels known as leats. The water was then used to separate out the heavier tin ore from the gangue (the waste material). This type of mining was known as openworks.

The tin miners were not the only people who left their mark here on the landscape. On the side of Challacombe Down opposite, you should be able to pick out a triple row of stones going up the hillside. They are easier to identify in winter without the bracken.

No one knows the origins of these stones but they date from prehistoric times. Many of them have a burial mound at the end of a row so they may have had a religious function.

The group of buildings tucked into the hillside amongst the trees is Headland Warren Farm. You can see it was deliberately built on the lower valley side in order to avoid the worst of the moorland weather.

Even today in the twenty-first century the house is very isolated and has no mains facilities. Electricity comes from a generator, bottled gas is used for cooking, and water is pumped from the local stream. But why was a farmhouse built in this remote, inhospitable spot in the first place?

Documents dating back to the eighteenth century tell us that the land was used as a rabbit farm. Before the Victorians turned them into domestic pets, rabbits were bred both for their meat and fur, which was used to decorate ladies’ garments such as nightgowns and gloves.

This rabbit farm (or warren) stretched from near our first stop in the high moor right across the area below Birch Tor into this valley. It was over 600 hundred acres. The rabbits were kept in the warren by natural features and special rabbit-proof fences, which we will see later. They bred during the summer and were killed for their meat during the winter months. When the mines were at their peak, this farm opened as the Birch Tor Inn and sold beer and rabbit meat to the hungry and thirsty miners.

This area known as Grimspound is one of the most famous and well-preserved Bronze Age sites in Britain. According to English Heritage, it dates back almost 3,000 years to around 700 to 450BC.

This low stone wall encloses the remains of twenty four hut circles which offered shelter and protection to our Bronze Age ancestors.

Incredibly these houses have survived for almost three millennia thanks to the tough local stone they were built from - granite.

Each house was built with a stone circular wall. They probably had a low conical, wigwam shaped roof, thatched with brush or heather.

Evidence of porches, paved floors, hearths, raised benches and cooking holes have been found in some of the hut circles.

The people who lived here grew cereals and kept cattle and sheep on the open countryside around the village, bringing their stock into the walled enclosure at night to protect them.

We’re high up here, at 450 metres (or 1,500 feet) above sea level which suggests that our Bronze Age ancestors probably built their settlement here for defensive reasons.

The people who lived here would have also needed a water source. See if you can spot the small stream that runs through Grimspound which would have provided an excellent water supply for cooking, drinking and washing.

Feel free to walk around, investigate some of the huts and soak up the atmosphere of this evocative place before continuing the walk.

The area we’re standing in now was once the Headland Mine - another of Dartmoor’s tin mines. If we look closely, we can still see the scars this industry left behind on the landscape.

Around us are examples of the three main methods for extracting tin used over the centuries. First, look around to spot lumpy areas of earth. Now grown over with grass and subsumed as part of the ‘natural’ landscape, these mounds were once spoil tips. They were created from waste left behind by early miners looking for tin in the bed of the West Webburn river.

Now look up the hillside on your right and you should see the remains of several long gullies known as ‘gerts’. When the easily accessible tin washed from the rivers finally ran out, miners began actively following the veins of minerals (or lodes) in the earth by digging down into the hillside.

Depending on the weather conditions these gerts might be dry or gushing with water.

With the Industrial Revolution the demand for metals grew. Industrialisation also provided the technology that enabled miners to dig further underground to extract the tin. From the eighteenth century onwards horizontal tunnels known as ‘adits’ were dug into the hillsides to reach the lodes underground. As the miners went deeper they met with water which then needed to be pumped out. Waterwheels were then built to power the drainage pumps. We’ll see evidence of one of these later on the walk.

If you climb up on some of the old mine ruins by the footpath you can clearly see the spoil tip at the end of the gully leading to the adit entrance on the hillside.

Beside you is the rabbit-proof wall that we first saw at the track leading to Headland Warren Farm. It continues right over the top of Challacombe Down - we will see it again on the other side!

The wall was built to keep the rabbits within the marked area, and to keep vermin out. If you walk alongside the wall, you might be able to spot two holes in the base. These are vermin traps. Two slabs of granite formed a narrow tunnel. At each end there were two slate shutters which triggered after the animal entered, leaving them caught in the middle.

These were designed to provide protection from stoats and weasels, the rabbit’s main predators. They are well preserved but the slate shutters have gone.

From this point you can clearly see a series of steps or ridges cut into the hillside. These are known as strip lynchets and were created by medieval farmers. In a similar way to modern terraces (think for instance of stepped paddy fields in southeast Asia) this system of farming maximised the ground available for crops in upland areas. This was a time when a high rural population created pressure for more agricultural land.

Contrast this intensive use of hilly land with the other side of the valley where you can see more typical field systems. The smaller fields nearest the settlement called ‘infields’ traditionally grew labour-intensive arable crops such as wheat, barley and vegetables. The fields further from the village near to open moorland were ‘outfields’ used for cattle pasture.

These stone buildings are the remains of the medieval hamlet of Challacombe. Here it is possible to make out the ruins of at least seven traditional Dartmoor longhouses.

Longhouses were designed so that people lived in the same building as their animals. An internal wall divided the people on one side from the animals in the other half.

There were several advantages to living with your livestock. Cattle gave off an important source of warmth, vital in this exposed landscape. Keeping cattle close also saved farmers from excursions out onto the moor in bad weather to check on them.

Take a closer look at the best-preserved of the longhouses. See if you can spot the opening for a window two-thirds of the way up the wall and a hole at the bottom for the drain. The livestock quarters were deliberately built down the slope so that their waste drained away from the humans’ living area.

Evidence of human settlement in this area dates back to the eleventh century when Challacombe Manor was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Over four hundred years later Foresters accounts of 1505 record a ‘vill’ (small hamlet) at ‘Chalvecombe’.

The people who lived in these lands were considered special tenants of the king and had ‘venville’ rights. This allowed them to graze cattle on the moor from sunrise to sunset. They could also gather stone and cut peat.

In return they paid a rent and helped with the ‘drift’ - collecting ponies and cattle off the moor.

At one stage in its history, one of these buildings was turned into a cider house to serve thirsty miners from the nearby tin mines. Most of the local men probably combined farming with mining to make a living from the land.

As you walk around, notice the use of the local granite in the walls, window frames, gateposts and troughs.

Challacombe Farm is a modern hill farm situated on land that has been worked continuously for around 4,000 years using traditional methods. This farm, like many others on Dartmoor and in the Southwest, is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall and is leased to the current tenants.

Today it is a cattle and sheep farm. The cattle are all descended from just ten cows who were brought to the farm in the early 1970s and are adapted to the harsh conditions of Dartmoor. Despite being a hardy breed, during the hard winter months they are still kept in the barns that you can see behind the farmhouse.

The sheep are a tough breed too. They’re a mixture of Black Welsh Mountain and Cheviots. There is also a small collection of pedigree Dartmoor ponies who run wild on the moor, but are all owned and cared for by the farmer.

Today the farm is deliberately managed to conserve its archaeology and wildlife whilst maintaining its economic viability. In 2006 the Duchy awarded it a Silver certificate in recognition of the work accomplished here. The ponds were created as part of the farm’s environmental work and attract some unusual species. They include the extremely rare bog hoverfly, which was thought to be extinct and is only found on Dartmoor.

Before leaving the farm, look out for a granite trough at the end of the pond. The gouged-out hole may have been used as a mouldstone for casting tin ingots.

From here we can look over towards Soussons Farm and Conifer Plantation. As with the entire walk, this farm lies within the boundaries of the Dartmoor National Park. One of the purposes of the park authority is to ensure that the moor’s natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage are conserved.

Soussons Farm, which was also once a rabbit farm, must maintain a farming ethos true to these terms. Today it is another example of a modern Dartmoor hill farm, where cattle and sheep are the main sources of income.

Grazing farm animals are very important in preventing the moor being overrun by scrub and in maintaining suitable conditions for a wide range of moorland species including buzzards, bats and butterflies.

This modern land management policy contrasts markedly with the development of the conifer plantation you can see next to the farm. It was planted just after the war in 1946 when the government needed large supplies of wood.

Unfortunately it was insufficiently surveyed before planting began. Many archaeological remains are thought to have been destroyed when the area was ploughed. However the Ringaston ring cairn, an impressive circle of 22 standing stones, survives within the forest.

On this side of the Redwater Valley you can see further evidence of how early inhabitants marked out the landscape. Around you are long low mounds of pointed stones descending in lines down the hillside. These are called ‘reaves’ and they were built by prehistoric people to mark their field boundaries. Look out for them as you carry on along this track.

The Warren House Inn stands at 1,425 feet (434 metres) above sea level. It is reputedly the third highest inn in England and also said to be one of the loneliest and most remote.

Originally built to serve the busy local tin mining community, the inn was also a focal point for workers from neighbouring mines, including The Golden Dagger, Vitifer and Birch Tor Mines. During this time it must have been a bustling place full of dusty miners and passing travellers. After the Golden Dagger Mine finally closed in 1930 the inn had to rely on passing trade. Today it is walkers, cyclists and tourists that flock here.

The present inn was built in 1845 replacing the original building that stood on the opposite side of the road. See if you can find the builder’s slate plaque which is set into the eastern gable wall, and reads ‘I Wills-Sept 18 1845’. Look out too for the sign above the front door which depicts three rabbits chasing each other. These are often referred to as the ‘Tinners Rabbits’ and can be seen decorating other Devon buildings.

According to folklore, the peat fire in the original pub was ‘always in’. When the new inn was built, the landlord transferred some smouldering peat from the original building to the hearth in the new one. The fire in the new pub is said to have never gone out!

The Warren House Inn marks the end of the walk. We hope you have enjoyed this excursion on Dartmoor and that the weather has been kind. Along the way we have discovered how dramatic physical processes sculpted and created Dartmoor’s famous granite tors. We have seen the footprints left by humans on the landscape, in particular the legacy of tin mining and learnt to ‘read’ the bumps and hillocks, gullies and stone pits as evidence of a once huge industry.

We have also seen the changing habitations, farming practices and strange monuments left on the moor by humans who lived, worked and worshipped here. From the hut circles of Grimspound to the longhouses where farmers lived with their livestock, from medieval lynchets to rabbit farms, from burial stones to bogs, our walk has encompassed Dartmoor’s five millennia of history.