Dartmoor National Park
Dartmoor - hilly marshland with an area of about 650 km2 in the extreme southwest of England, in the county of Devonshire, as well as the eponymous national park in the UK. The Dartmoor Landscape is a marshy wasteland, among which granite flat hills are scattered from 10 to 600 meters high.
The surface of the swamps is coated with a layer of peat capable of absorbing and preserving significant masses of water. This ability of Dartmoor soils to accumulate water has been serving since the 16th century to supply water to local cities and towns. Dartmoor is rich in plant diversity, for example, various mosses, marsh grasses, reeds, heathers. Until our time, Dartmur ponies, the oldest pony race in Great Britain, have fallen on the wastelands of Dartmoor.
In Dartmoor, archaeologists find numerous evidence of human prehistoric life - primitive parking, neolithic settlements, roads and shrines. Characteristic of Dartmoor are ancient bridges of crafted granite plates thrown over rivers and streams. In Dartmoor, in caves near the city of Torquay, ancient traces of a person’s stay in the British Isles were discovered. Many archaeological finds and places of excavation of Dartmoor belong to the bronze age, that is, to the period between 2000 and 500 BC. e. Here, scientists have discovered more than 2000 sacred stone circles laid out by the ancient sacred stone circles ( the most interesting - in Grimspound ). The local population of that era belonged to the culture of bell-shaped cups. Metal products, unlike stone ones, dating back to the times of this culture, like human remains, are rarely detected - due to the specific acidity of Dartmoor soils. In addition to stone circles, mengirs are found in this area, indicating, as a rule, ancient burials. On the tops of the hills, archaeologists find the shrines of this long-dead people of Devon and fortifications related to the iron age ( for example, Hembury Fort ). After the conquest of Britain by the Romans, they founded the city of Exeter. In the VIII century, Devon County arises. Between 851 and 1003, the territory of Dartmoor is repeatedly attacked by Danes and Scandinavian Vikings. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, feudal castles are built here, around which over time cities ( Barnstaple, Totnes, Laidford, and others ) grow. In the Middle Ages, from about the XII and up to the 19th centuries, tin, silver, iron ore, copper, manganese are mined in the dens of Dartmoor. Devonian ports, such as Plymouth, Barnstaple and Dartmouth, until the beginning of the 19th century, exported tin mined in Dartmoor and fabrics produced here.
In English fiction, the gloomy wastelands and dartmoor swamps have repeatedly served as a source of inspiration for various writers and poets ( for the novels of Eden Filpotts, Blackmore short stories, poems by N. Carrington Dartmoor ). However, the most famous were the ominous descriptions of the fatal toasts and the Dartmoor quagmire and the characters of its inhabitants in the wonderful novel by Arthur Conan Doyle « Baskerville Dog », which takes place in the wilds of local swamps. Also in Dartmoor, the events of another work of the English writer about the detective Sherlock Holmes take place - in the story « Silver » ( 1892 ) from the collection « Memories of Sherlock Holmes ( 1893 ) ».
But in addition to the picturesque romantic landscapes, this landscape offers a lot of opportunities for outdoor activities: excursions or adventure-full hikes in the wastelands; cycling on quiet forest paths or off-road; kayaking on the Dart River or horseback riding on the wastelands.
