Gidleigh

Gidleigh is a tiny place on the north eastern edge of the moor above the North Teign, a church, a farm or two and the ruin of a small castle, reached by lanes that do not really go anywhere else. The castle is a modest thing, the stone tower of a medieval manor rather than a fortress, but it has stood a long time and gives the hamlet a presence out of proportion to its size.

The moor above Gidleigh holds some of the best prehistory in the National Park. Scorhill stone circle stands on the open ground a walk from the village, one of the finest and least restored circles on Dartmoor, and the Teign nearby is crossed by the Wallabrook clapper and the strange slotted stone known as the Tolmen. The country here is quiet, hard to reach, and rewards those who make the effort. Gidleigh Park, in the woods below, has brought the parish a rather different kind of fame.