The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Dartmoor
DARTMOOR, an extensive, rugged, mountainous tract in England, in the western part of Devonshire, often called the “Forest of Dartmoor,” but at present having no appearance of a forest, except what is afforded by some dwarf oaks, intermixed with ash and willow, reaching from Brent south to Okehampton north, 22 miles, with a breadth of about 20 miles, and occupying about 140,000 acres. In the centre of the moor there is an extensive swamp in which the rivers Dart, Teign, Taw, Yealm, Erme and a great number of smaller streams have their source. Cattle and sheep are fed on the coarse grass during the summer months. In the winter the storms from the Atlantic sweep over it and it would be difficult to imagine a more desolate-looking place. Several of the rugged granite hills (here called “tors”) are of considerable height. Yes Tor rising 2,050 feet above the plain. The district is noted as being the site of a prison built in 1809 for the custody of the French prisoners of war. At one time it contained 10,000 inmates. It is now fitted up for the reception of convicts. Experiments made in cultivating the moor by convict labor have turned out successful. The quarries to the west of the prison also give employment to convict labor. The large kaolin-works and a meteorological observatory are at Lee Moor. Dartmoor offers considerable attraction to the tourist and naturalist. Druidical and other aboriginal remains may be traced, especially Gray Wethers, which is thought to have been a Druidical temple. The dolmens, cairns and other indications of an ancient town are found at Drewsteignton. Since 1337 Dartmoor has been part of the duchy of Cornwall.