Moretonhampstead

Moretonhampstead stands on the north eastern edge of Dartmoor where the lanes of the Teign valley meet the open moor, and has long been described as a gateway to the National Park. It grew as a market town serving the farms and moorland around it, and its position on the route between Exeter and the moor brought steady trade for centuries. The town's best known building is its row of thatched almshouses, granite arcaded and dated to the seventeenth century, one of the finest of their kind in Devon and a reminder of how much wealth once passed through here.

The town today keeps a working character, with shops, pubs, a church and a strong sense of its own community rather than an eye on visitors. It makes an excellent base for the eastern moor, with roads climbing quickly onto high ground and walks reaching out towards Mardon Down and the Bovey valley. Fernworthy Forest and reservoir lie to the west, and the wooded gorge of the Teign is within easy reach. For anyone approaching Dartmoor from Exeter, Moretonhampstead is where the countryside changes and the moor begins.