Dartmoor Letterboxing

Letterboxing is a hobby that began on Dartmoor. A small waterproof box is hidden in a remote spot and holds a visitors' book and a rubber stamp. Finders stamp an imprint from the box into their own notebook, and leave an imprint of their own personal stamp in the box's book. Many keep a count of their finds.

The tradition is traced to Cranmere Pool on the northern moor. William Crossing's Guide to Dartmoor says that in 1854 the guide James Perrott placed a bottle there for visitors' cards. The practice of leaving letters or postcards in boxes, to be collected and posted on by the next visitor, gave letterboxing its name. A plaque and letterbox in Crossing's own memory were put up at Duck's Pool, on southern Dartmoor, in 1938.

Until the 1970s there were no more than a dozen sites on the moor, mostly in remote places. There are now thousands, many within an easy walk of a road. Anyone who has found 100 boxes on Dartmoor can join the 100 Club, which publishes clues in an annual catalogue, though some boxes are shared only by word of mouth. Letterbox meets are held twice a year, on the days the clocks change in March and October, and the first of them was on Dartmoor.