Folklore & Tradition

Paul Rendell - Dartmoor Guide

Paul Rendell was born in Plymouth and became enthusiastic about Dartmoor from an early age after being taken on numerous outings by his parents. Burrator and Sheepstor were two of the favourite places they went as a family.Very early he found he was fascinated by the moor's industrial archaeology and its wildlife. Because he was dyslexic his schooldays were not very easy for him but he struggled on until school leaving age.

Rebecca Beattie

Dartmoor-raised author, Wiccan priestess and witchcraft teacher whose books explore nature, magic and the wheel of the year.

Ten Tors Challenge

Okehampton

Each spring teams of six young people walk between ten Dartmoor tors, carrying everything they need, in a navigation challenge run by the British Army since 1960.

The Granite Way (album)

by Seth Lakeman

Seth Lakeman's 2025 album of West Country folklore songs, including two drawn from Dartmoor legend: The Black Fox and The Huntsman and the Moon.

The Holne Ram Feast and Revel

Holne

Holne's ram feast was a May Day custom in which a ram was caught on the moor, tied to a granite pillar, roasted whole and shared out; it became the Holne Revel and is now a village fete.

The Lych Way (Lich Path)

Lydford, Okehampton

The Way of the Dead: the old route across central Dartmoor from Bellever to Lydford, said to have been used to carry the dead to be buried at Lydford church. The exact line is disputed.

The Stannary Parliament at Crockern Tor

Devon's tinners met in the open air at Crockern Tor, in a stannary parliament of 96 jurats, until the last convocation in 1786.

Venville and Commoners' Rights

Venville was the right of farmers in the parishes around the old Forest of Dartmoor to graze the central moor by day, in return for a small payment to the Duchy of Cornwall.

Whortleberry (Hurt) Picking

On Dartmoor the whortleberry is a 'hurt'. For centuries families went to the moor each summer to pick them for pies and for sale at market.