Photo © Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Princetown
Princetown is the main settlement of Dartmoor Forest parish, in the middle of the moor. The 2021 census counted 1,443 people. It dates from 1785, when Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt leased moorland from the Duchy of Cornwall and named the place after the Prince of Wales. He built his own house at Tor Royal in 1798, and when farming failed on the high ground he turned to granite and then to a prison.
Dartmoor Prison was built from 1806 to 1809 to a design by Daniel Asher Alexander, for prisoners of the Napoleonic Wars. About 6,500 American sailors were held there between 1813 and March 1815, and on 6 April 1815 guards fired on prisoners protesting about their food, killing seven and wounding about 60. It reopened for convicts in 1851. The church of St Michael and All Angels was built between 1810 and 1814 using prison labour, and one source says it is the only church in the United Kingdom built by prisoners of war.
The prison was emptied in 2024 after high radon gas levels were found. In January 2026 Construction News reported it still closed, with the Ministry of Justice paying about £4 million a year in rent and utilities under a lease running to 2033, and remediation held up by a Health and Safety Executive review of radon regulations. The Plymouth and Dartmoor tramway reached Princetown in 1825; the Princetown Railway for passengers opened on 11 August 1883 and closed on 3 March 1956, with a station at 1,373 feet, the highest in England. Arthur Conan Doyle is said to have stayed at the Duchy Hotel while researching The Hound of the Baskervilles; the hotel dates from the 1850s. The Dartmoor National Park Authority ran a visitor centre in the building from 1993 until it closed on 31 October 2025, after the Authority chose not to renew its lease from the Duchy of Cornwall, which owns the building. In 2026 the Duchy reopened it as Gather & Moor, with a cafe, visitor information, a shop for local makers and a free exhibition space for local artists.
Princetown on the map
In Princetown
American and French Prisoners of War memorial garden
Princetown, Tavistock
A quiet memorial to American and French prisoners of war held on Dartmoor during the Napoleonic Wars and later conflicts.
Anne-Marie Furse
Princetown
Anne-Marie Furse is a landscape artist, illustrator and printmaker whose vibrant, atmospheric work is inspired by the scenery and history of Dartmoor and the Cornish coast.
Black Tor, Walkhampton
Princetown, Yelverton
A granite tor of 376 m above the River Meavy with a rocking logan stone on its top outcrop, Black Tor Falls and an old blowing house below.
Church of St Michael, Princetown
Princetown, Yelverton
Grade II* granite church of about 1810-14 by Daniel Alexander, built with prisoners of war from Dartmoor Prison, later enlarged.
Dartmoor Brewery
Princetown
Dartmoor Brewery - producing award-winning traditional ales for the past 30 years at England's highest brewery, in the heart of Dartmoor. The famous and original Jail Ale, the mighty Legend, the golden Dartmoor IPA, and more besides. Beer with altitude.
Dartmoor Distillery
Princetown
An award-winning artisan gin distillery on Station Road in Princetown, at the heart of the high moor.
Dartmoor Preservation Association
Princetown
For over 140 years, the Dartmoor Preservation Association has been at the forefront of campaigning for the protection and conservation of Dartmoor National Park.
Devil's Bridge
Princetown, Yelverton
A small road bridge over the infant River Meavy on the B3212 near Princetown, hardly recognisable as a bridge, with a Bronze Age settlement landscape around it.
Devonport Leat
Princetown
A historic watercourse that once supplied Plymouth, running from Dartmoor's high ground to Burrator Reservoir.
Devonport Leat Cross (Hutchinson's Cross)
Princetown
A granite memorial cross beside the Devonport Leat near Nun's Cross Farm, put up in 1968 by a son in memory of his mother.
Duchy of Cornwall
Princetown, Yelverton
The Duchy of Cornwall is on a mission to become a world-leading impact organisation, using its assets and convening power to deliver resilient, vibrant, and prosperous communities and ecosystems - now, and into the future. We create positive outcomes for people, nature, and communities, as well as returns that are reinvested with purpose.
Foggintor Quarry
Princetown
A ruined 19th-century granite quarry near Princetown whose stone built much of the town and travelled as far as Nelson's Column and the Plymouth Breakwater.
Fox Tor Cafe
Princetown, Yelverton
Welcoming licensed café and bunkhouse in Princetown, the highest town on Dartmoor. Locally sourced home-cooked breakfasts, lunches, cream teas and cakes. Dog and walker-friendly with wood-burning stoves, a tea garden and bunkhouse accommodation. Open 6 days a week year-round.
Global Warrior Expedition Basecamp
Princetown, Yelverton
Global Warrior Basecamp - Experts in creating adventures and expeditions. Planning, safety, logistics, budgeting, permissions, outfitting clothing and equipment.
Happy Belly Bakery
Princetown
Husband-and-wife sourdough bakery at Duchy Square in Princetown, working a four-day slow ferment.
Heart of Dartmoor Guided Walks
Princetown
Bespoke guided walks across Dartmoor led by experienced mountain leaders, based in Princetown.
Hut circle settlements west and south-west of Devil's Bridge
Princetown, Yelverton
Three scheduled Bronze Age settlements on Walkhampton Common south-west and west of Devil's Bridge: 14 hut circles, six of them inside an enclosure.
Hut circles between Hart Tor and Devil's Bridge
Princetown, Yelverton
A scheduled settlement of 36 Bronze Age hut circles in an irregular field system on the west-facing slope between Hart Tor and Devil's Bridge, 18 of them dug in 1895.
National Park Visitor Centre, Princetown (closed)
Princetown
The former location of the National Park Visitor Centre, Princetown
Nun's Cross Farm
Princetown
A remote farmstead south of Princetown: first built after an 1870 Duchy lease to John Hooper, rebuilt as the present house in 1901, now a school-run bunkhouse.
Old Farm (ruins)
Princetown
Ruins of a moorland farmhouse built around 1871 by John Hooper near Nun's Cross, south of Princetown.
Plume of Feathers
Princetown
Historic Princetown pub dating from around 1785, offering rooms, complimentary breakfast and a cosy bar restaurant.
Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway
Princetown
A horse-drawn granite tramway opened in 1823, running about 25 miles from the Foggintor and King's Tor quarries to a wharf near Plymouth. Its upper section was later reused by the steam-worked Princetown Railway from 1883.
Prince Hall Hotel
Princetown
Sleeps 18 or 20 by arrangement with 9 large en suite bedrooms, situated in the heart of Dartmoor National Park.
Prince of Wales
Princetown, Yelverton
Traditional Princetown pub with accommodation, popular with walkers and cyclists exploring the high moor.
Princetown Community Centre
Princetown
Volunteer-run community centre in the heart of the village, housing the GP surgery, library and pre-school, with two halls for hire.
Princetown Community Primary School
Princetown
Princetown Community Primary School is the village primary school, serving the families of Princetown and the high moor at the heart of Dartmoor.
Princetown Distillers
Princetown
English single malt whisky distillery on Station Road, purpose-built in the centre of the moor.
Princetown Library
Princetown
Public library inside Princetown Community Centre, open four part-days a week.
Princetown Press
Princetown
We use heritage craft techniques, hand-powered printing presses, and recycled papers to create printed ephemera that inspire and delight. Where possible, we use British-made materials, and tools.With combined degrees in Environmental Science, and Sustainable Product and Furniture Design, makers Emma Hogbin and Jon Palmer bring a unique perspective to the endangered heritage craft of letterpress.
Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt
Princetown
MP and Duchy of Cornwall official (1762-1833) who built Tor Royal and pushed for Princetown, Dartmoor Prison and the Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway.
Skylark
Princetown, Yelverton
Skylark is a unique FM radio station for Dartmoor, on air since 2020 on 105.8 FM from Princetown and 107.6 FM from Holne: a continuous, ever-changing sound collage of oral histories, new music and the voices and noises of Dartmoor's people, animals, plants and weather.
Spirit of Adventure
Princetown
Outdoor education provider based in a converted 19th-century gunpowder factory on Dartmoor, offering school programmes, Duke of Edinburgh expeditions and corporate training.
Swelltor Quarries
Princetown
A group of Dartmoor granite workings near Princetown, worked from the 1820s until 1938. Twelve unused granite corbels, cut in 1903-04 for the widening of London Bridge, still lie beside the old railway trackbed here.
The Railway Ramblers Rest
Princetown
We found our love for providing self catering accommodation through Airbnb, where we hosted 100’s of visitors over 10 years. We love it, and our customers thought we were good at it – resulting in us achieving 5 star ratings and Superhost status.
