Dartmoor - Defence Estates

 In early 2007 a five-year project to record the historic environment of the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) five military training areas on Dartmoor National Park was brought to a successful conclusion. 

The MoD has long been conscious of the wealth and significance of the archaeological remains contained within its Dartmoor Training Areas but until 2000 it had very little information about the sites for which it is responsible.

With the introduction of electronic mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the opportunity was taken to completely re-evaluate all archaeological sites within the Dartmoor training areas.  The project was undertaken by the English Heritage Archaeological Survey and Investigation team (Exeter), funded jointly with the MoD Defence Estates. The aim was to undertake a new programme of reconnaissance, survey and mapping, the results of  which would  form the basis for future monitoring of the entire archaeological resource. The five Dartmoor Training Areas cover a total  of 13,000 hectares, and include some of the most spectacular landscapes in the National Park, such as Tavy Cleave, High Willhays and parts of the Plym Valley.  Three of the training areas are used for live firing. The Hingstone Hill stone row and cairn circle. A scheduled monument on the Cramber Tor Training Area. 

Altogether within the five training areas 809 archaeological sites have now been recorded, including single monuments such as small cairns, boundary stones and ruined buildings, but also many more complicated landscapes. These include prehistoric field systems, settlements and ritual monuments, medieval and post-medieval settlements and fields, and industrial features from the medieval period onwards, particularly tinworks and mines.  Every site has been mapped electronically and  photographed; many were previously unrecorded in either the National Monument Record (NMR) or the Devon Historic Environment Record (HER).

Following on from the completion of the surveys by English Heritage, the MoD is funding a rolling programme of condition monitoring every five years. The first of these revisions for Willsworthy Training Area is commencing in 2007.

Phil Newman (AS&I Team, Exeter) 01392 824901 phil.newman@english-heritage.org.uk