The Storyteller: Letterboxing for antiquities

Regular readers of this column, will know that most of my walks on Dartmoor are led by my love of the ancient pastime of Letterboxing.

I say ancient, as it first started in 1854, when a Moorland Guide, by the name of James Perrott, left an empty bottle, in a peat bank, at a remote spot to the north of the moor, known as Cranmere Pool. He then encouraged his guests to leave their business cards in it, and for the next visitors he brought there, to write to the previous ones, to let them know their card had been found...and so it began. Business cards became postcards, became rubber stamps, with visitors’ books to sign. From Cranmere Pool, it spread to other well-known spots, like Ducks Pool and Fox Tor, until, nowadays, Dartmoor is littered with them (but in a good way!).

Potentially, every rock and peat bank could be hiding one, which is why you need clues to help, and know how to use a map and compass, to plot your course to find them, using the bearings given in the clues. I also use the word, ancient, to differentiate between the more modern hobby of Geocaching, which makes use of technology...the less said about that the  better...

I’ve been pursuing Letterboxes, ever since I started walking the moors, after arriving in Torbay, back in 1987. I’ve amassed quite a collection, but nowadays I’m quite particular about the ones that I go after, preferring to collect sets of stamps, relevant to the subject matter of the area in which they are located. This change of heart happened after one Sunday, when my Letterboxing buddy, Dave, and I, found 50 in one afternoon! I found this disappointingly boring, so now I’m more discerning about what I go after, preferring quality over quantity, and finding the most satisfying part of the whole exercise, crossing another capture off my list.

Whilst also walking on Dartmoor, I love to visit all the fascinating antiquities, that are prolific in the landscape, like stone circles, and stone rows. So imagine my excitement, when a new batch of clues were released, all featuring Dartmoor Antiquities. I believe they were originally put out as a charity walk, to raise money. Now they have been re-sited, quite close to the object they relate to. So, you can now not only visit an ancient site, but bag a letterbox too, and add a photograph to the collection!

I started collecting these straightaway, and I’ve uncovered quite a few already. Each one is special in its own way, and some have an interesting tale to tell, which is why I thought I would share some of them with you here...

On a recent walk, I found the one depicting the rock basins on Kes Tor, which inspired this article. Now, I’ve passed this particular rocky outcrop many, many times in the past, and used it to find many letterboxes in the surrounding landscape, but, on this occasion, I took the opportunity to clamber up and take a look at the basins for myself, and quite impressive they are too, plus the views from up there are stunning. I was sure there would be some stories attached to these artefacts, and a little research proved me not wrong...

They were originally “discovered” by a visiting geologist by the name of George Wareing Ormerod, in the 1800s. When he found them, they were filled in with peat and stones. When he inquired about this with local farmers, they told him that they were deep enough for sheep to drown in, so had been filled in to protect their livestock. Ormerod wasn’t happy with this, instead he emptied the deepest one...actually the best example on Dartmoor...and erected iron fencing around it, to keep animals out.

This fencing has long since gone, but, if you look closely, you can still see holes in the surface of the rock. Reports of this new find, brought charabancs, full of Victorian tourists, racing to the scene, in the hope of seeing the sacrificial pools that Druids had collected the blood of their victims in. Of course, there is no truth in this story, they are just harmless formations, carved out by natural forces of ice and weathering, but whoever thought that a gruesome bit of folklore wasn’t good for local business?

As I said, many of these Letterboxes relate to standing stones, stone rows and stone circles, including the Cosdon Triple Stone Row, also known as The Graveyard, as it contains burial cists, adding to the theory that stone rows played an important part in our ancestors death rituals; Beardown Man Menhir, the second highest on the moor, a standing stone that stands apart from any other row or circle, but close to Devil’s Tor, which is why I’ve visited many times, over the years, (it’s worth noting that in Celtic the word man is maen, which  means stone, so Beardown Stone); and Nine Maidens stone circle, just outside of Belstone, said to be the petrified remains of young ladies, turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath, and where, many years ago, I came across a group of Pagan ladies, wearing their cloaks of moons and stars, celebrating the Winter Solstice. 

Others, feature granite crosses, another striking feature of Dartmoor, such as Horn’s Cross, on the hillside above Combestone Tor and car park; Nun’s Cross, beside the old, abandoned farmhouse, that bears the same name; Crazywell Cross, beside the enigmatic pool; Horse Ford Cross, that I was once pacing out another Letterbox from, and almost put my hand on the first adder I’ve ever sighted; and Widgery Cross, built high up on Brai Tor or Brat Tor, by local artist, William Widgery, to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, in 1887.

Some illustrate vestiges of the mining industry, that used to be prevalent on Dartmoor, such as the chimney at Ramsley Mine, that stands above the village of South Zeal; the spoil heaps at Left Lake Clayworks, that are to be found beside the Redlake Tramway, on the way to bigger examples at Redlake Tip itself; the surviving Beehive, or quarryman’s huts, at Holwell Tor, and near the East Dart; the ruins of Foxholes Tin Mine, below Brat Tor and Sharp Tor; and the remains of the aptly named Bleak House, once the abode of the mine manager, who oversaw the peat works, on the Rattle Brook, below Amicombe Hill...a very remote destination indeed, but on a very rewarding walk.

Other particular favourites include the quaint St Raphael’s Church at Huccaby, built in 1869; the ruins of Newhouse Inn, near Hemsworthy Gate, above Widecombe, where Jan Reynolds played cards with the landlord, Mr Foale, and won his arrishes, setting him on the path to make his ill advised pact with The Devil; The Ten Commandments Stones on Buckland Beacon, commissioned by William Whitley, and his My Dear Mother clock face on Buckland Church; and what set of stamps wouldn’t be complete without an illustration of Jay’s Grave?

As I said, I’ve found quite a few already, but there are still plenty more of this particular set, called “Antiquities Through The Ages”, to be found, and it keeps being added to, so I think they will be the focus of many more of my enjoyable Dartmoor walks, still to come.