Dartmoor, SW England – a uniquely well-preserved Pleistocene periglacial landscape and an inspiration for myth and legend

The Dartmoor massif, occupying 954 km2 of central Devon (SW England), is dominated by Variscan granite with a narrow aureole of Devonian-Carboniferous metasediments. Rising to around 500-600m asl, typically 250-300m above its hinterland, this difference in geology and altitude has led to the development of a very distinct landscape. In particular, extreme climate cycles of the Quaternary, fluctuating from humid, warm temperate to glacial created the perfect environment for landscape evolution, with phases of periglacial solifluction acting on deeply pre-glacially and interglacially weathered bedrock leading to widespread tor formation – the region being famous for the development of models for such processes. Crucially, the generally thin, acidic and poor soils, extensive areas of surface rock - have meant that human intervention in the landscape - especially cultivation - has been limited and consequently extensively areas of periglacial features remain spectacularly well-preserved. In addition, the high relief gives the massif a distinctive climate to much of the surrounding area, being cooler, wetter and more prone to mist and cloud. When combined with the distinctive landforms and landscapes such as tors, block-fields, valley mires and blanket bog – the latter often with an important Holocene climate record- it is not surprising that Dartmoor is a land of myths and legends with a strongly geomorphological inspiration. Although the origins of many of these stories will be pre-Christian, they have been lost and too often assigned an evil character connected with devils and witches, as a way of ‘burying’ any latent connection with ancient gods and spirits… Hints of some of these origins exist in Saxon words and place names such a local name for the (or ‘a’?) devil, ‘dewar’, or spectral hounds known as ‘wisht’. However, as settlements on the moor date back to at least the Neolithic have been identified, some of these legends will undoubtedly have much older origins. These early farming cultures, however, had the most dramatic effect on the landscapes of Dartmoor, leading to an almost complete deforestation, hence re-exposing periglacial landforms and landscapes, but also leading to an irreversible deterioration of surviving soils due to leaching and acidification, especially as a result of subsequent climate cooling and increased rainfall. These changes led to an abandonment of many higher moor settlements during the Middle Ages and hence only some lower areas of the moor, have been modified by post 17^th century enclosure, and much of the area remains as open moorland revealing a wide range of well-preserved landforms. Some ancient myths and legends also persist, however, as they have inspired classic literature and ultimately film and television, most famously Arthur Conan-Doyle’s, Sherlock Holmes story,  ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’, where a spectral dog and ancient curse haunt an aristocratic family.   Today, the unique features of Dartmoor are protected by a wide range of conservation designations from site and feature-specific to whole landscape as a National Park.