Hartstongue - Nature Reserves

An elevated, open landscape with long views to Dartmoor and/or to Exmoor. Within the patchwork of pastoral fields are extensive areas of rough Culm grassland and heathland. These Culm ‘moors’ have a strong sense of remoteness, even wildness, which is accentuated by the relative lack of settlement and the wind-sculpted trees and hedgerows; they give an impression of how large areas of Devon might have looked before agricultural improvements such as drainage, ploughing and fertilizers. The presence in the landscape of numerous clusters of prehistoric barrows adds to this sense of history and changelessness. The strong textures of plantations, beech hedgerows, heathland and grasses contrast with the smooth improved agricultural land which surrounds them. Patches of colour in the landscape change with the seasons – golden, brown and green grasses, purple heather and bright yellow gorse.

This area comprises elevated land between the Taw Valley (to the west) and the Cruwys Morchard Wooded and Farmed Valleys and the Exe Valley (to the east). To the north is a gradual transition into the South Molton Farmland, and to the south a gradual transition to the lower and more intensively-farmed Crediton Rolling Farmlands.

https://www.devon.gov.uk/planning/north-devon-area/witheridge-and-rackenford-moor

https://www.devon.gov.uk/planning/planning-policies/landscape/devon-character-areas

: Last Updated: 26 April 2022; Hits: 2090

Devon Gardens Trust The house built on a new site in 1822 by Thomas Lee, a Barnstaple architect, for Newton Fellowes. It was an early example in the county of an embattled Tudor style for a country house. It was dismantled in 1917. Now an eminently picturesque large ruin standing against the sky, surrounded by the woods of the Taw valley, like the best of follies. Revd John Swete visited in 1796 and wrote that ‘the landscape had nothing in it of the wild, or romantic, it was a sweetly-pleasing picture, touched by the soft, the minute, the elegant pencil of nature. Art did not seem to me to have used much of its interference in the embellishment of this little paradise.’ In 1806 Polwhele wrote that it was ‘built about the year 1718 of brick, much increased and improved by the present possessor who has also laid out the grounds about it with much elegance and taste under the direction of the late Mr Richmond; woods well interspersed, considerable plantations and the river Taw contributing much to enrich and beautify the scene.’

White (1850) noted that ‘Old Eggesford House was the seat of the Lords Chichester in the 17th century, and was rebuilt by W. Fellowes, Esq., in 1718, but was taken down about 26 years ago. The present seat of the Hon. Newton Fellowes is a neat mansion, standing in the adjoining parish of Wembworthy. ’ Stockdale described it as ‘lately taken down’. The sale particulars of 1913 particularly noted the walled kitchen gardens of three acres while that of 1914 noted the mile long drive and that the walks
were noted for the specimen trees. The Parkland survives. Within the former grounds are a nursery and garden.

https://devongardenstrust.org.uk/gardens/eggesford-house

: Last Updated: 25 April 2022; Hits: 2334

A Devon Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve

Lose yourself in a wide open landscape amid one of the rarest habitats in the world. A sense of space and timelessness greets the visitor stepping out on to the largest surviving area of culm grassland in Devon.

Culm grassland is a rare habitat comprising distinctive wetland plants, sustained by acidic clay soils, light grazing, and high rainfall. This combination of environmental conditions with low intensity land management, largely unchanged since prehistoric times, maintains the site's wildlife richness.

Unbroken views, as far as the edges of Dartmoor and Exmoor, reach across a diverse array of wet pastures, heaths, bogs and mires, scrub and fringes of woodland. This may lend an impression of vast ancient emptiness, but in the last century over 90% of culm grassland has been lost.

Much of what remains is to be found fragmented across north Devon. Rackenford and Knowstone moor is of crucial value as the most extensive remnant still in existence today. Devon Wildlife Trust works to protect, re-create and link together isolated culm grassland sites through the Working Wetlands and North Devon Nature Improvement Area projects.

https://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/nature-reserves/rackenford-and-knowstone-moors

https://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/sites/default/files/2018-10/Rackenford%20and%20knowstone%20moors%20map-compressed.pdf

: Last Updated: 22 April 2022; Hits: 1582

This Standing Stone has been variously known as the “Knowstone”, the “Beaples” stone or just as a “boundary” stone, a “marker” stone and a “rubbing” stone. It is not a Parish boundary stone, as the Parish boundary runs several hundred metres to the south, but it did lie on the Beaples Barton Estate land and was most likely to have been a “rubbing” or “tether” stone for bulls and horses working on the farms in the area.

As a Standing Stone, it could be seen from Exmoor and was mentioned in a book on Ancient Exmoor by Hazel Eardley Wilmott. There was a myth that, on certain moonlit nights, the stone would turn around and the fairies would dance around it, and if it was removed, then all the fairies would disappear.

https://www.knowstone.org.uk/beaples-stone

: Last Updated: 20 April 2022; Hits: 1146

Read more: DCA - Central Dartmoor

This is a transitional landscape, linking the upland moor with the Tamar valley to the west, and forming the backdrop to many views of Dartmoor from the west. It is a secretive landscape of enclosing hills, deep valleys and sunken lanes, but with occasional unexpected and magnificent views towards the moorland and across the Tamar Valley. The landscape contains a mosaic of moorland, small fields and woodland, creating rich contrasts of colour, scale and texture. A sense of history pervades through the stone walls, hedgebanks, lanes and villages and the landmarks such as Brent Tor and White Tor. The town of Tavistock – built of greenish local stone – is the largest settlement in the area and also has a rich history.

This area comprises the western part of Dartmoor and land to the west including the town of Tavistock. It encompasses upland moorland and the west-facing farmed slopes below it, running down towards the Tamar valley. It forms a transition from upland to lowland, and its boundaries with surrounding character areas are gradual. To the east are High Dartmoor North and Central Dartmoor; to the south and west the River Tavy Middle Valley and the Tamar Upland Fringe, and to the north the Upper Tamar Tributary Valleys.

https://www.devon.gov.uk/planning/tavistock-dartmoor-fringes

https://www.devon.gov.uk/planning/planning-policies/landscape/devon-character-areas

: Last Updated: 04 March 2022; Hits: 1116

This is a landscape of contrasts, with ridges of higher land separated by the winding wooded valley of the River Tavy. Extensive dark mixed plantation covers its valley sides, creating a sense of isolation and secrecy. Watermeadows on the valley floors and pockets of broadleaved woodland add variations in colour and texture. Streams glide between craggy wooded banks covered in mosses and ferns, tumble over boulders and rocks, and flow under ancient bridges. Sunken lanes twist their way up the valley sides towards an open landscape of pastoral fields, with sudden long views across to Dartmoor or the River Tamar. Buckland Abbey is nestled into the valley side, surrounded by parkland. The rich and diverse landscape has a strong sense of history, with prehistoric hillforts, farms, estates, villages and industrial remains all contributing to its sense of time-depth.

This area is separated from the Tamar valley to the west by a narrow plateau which runs from Bere Alston to Lamerton. Its boundaries with adjacent landscape character areas are all fairly gradual. To the north are the Tamar Upland Fringe and Tavistock Dartmoor Fringes; to the east Central Dartmoor and Southern Dartmoor and Fringes; to the south Plymouth Farmland and the city of Plymouth and to the west the Lower Tamar and Tavy Valleys and the Middle Tamar Valley.

https://www.devon.gov.uk/planning/west-devon-area/river-tavy-middle-valley

https://www.devon.gov.uk/planning/planning-policies/landscape/devon-character-areas

: Last Updated: 04 March 2022; Hits: 1216

This is a constantly-changing landscape which appeals to many senses through the endless patterns of light and water, the sounds of water and birds, and the smells of salt water and mud. The diversity of the estuary margins, and their contrast with the flat, tranquil waters at the heart of the estuary, give this landscape a strong visual appeal. Fringing woodlands and reed beds; silty promontories; mudflats and salt marshes; patches of bright yellow gorse on rocky outcrops; the ribbon of hedgerows above the water, and the stone quays with clusters of colourful houses together create a rich and colourful edge that contrasts with the simple landscapes of the surrounding hills and the open water.

This is a small area comprising the lower reaches of the Tamar and Tavy rivers within the Tamar estuary. The area encloses the river channels, inter-tidal zone, salt marshes and river margins. Upstream to the north and north-east respectively are the Middle Tamar Valley and River Tavy Middle Valley. The transition to the Middle Tamar Valley is gradual, while the start of the River Tavy Middle Valley is marked by the change in river character at Lopwell Dam. To the south is the City of Plymouth, and to the west the county boundary with Cornwall with a corresponding landscape character area on the Cornwall shore.

https://www.devon.gov.uk/planning/west-devon-area/lowe-tamar-and-tavy-valleys

https://www.devon.gov.uk/planning/planning-policies/landscape/devon-character-areas