Merrivale

Merrivale sits on the road between Tavistock and Princetown where it crosses the River Walkham, a few buildings, a former quarry and an inn on one of the most exposed stretches of the western moor. The granite quarry here worked into the twentieth century and its stone went far beyond Dartmoor. For most visitors, though, the hamlet is simply the place to leave the car for what lies on the slope just to the south.

The Merrivale prehistoric complex is among the most impressive and most accessible on Dartmoor: two long double stone rows running east to west, a stone circle, a standing stone, cairns and the hut circles of a Bronze Age settlement, all within a few minutes of the road. It is an extraordinary concentration, and the fact that you can walk among it freely, with Great Mis Tor and Vixen Tor on the skyline, makes it one of the best introductions to ancient Dartmoor anywhere on the moor.