Widecombe's Ancient Landscape - Companion Website and Resources
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Widecombe's Ancient Landscape
This page acts as the companion website and provides the resources for the book 'Widecombe's Ancient Landscape'.
The page consists primarily of links to customised Google maps created to illustrate points made in the book and to assist identification on the ground of items described in the book.
Note: this book has recently been published in Amazon hardback and paperback editions and a Kindle edition and we additionally have a limited number of copies of the paperback edition that can be provided by direct sale.
All profits from the sale of the book are donated to local Widecombe and Dartmoor causes.
This book is about the landscape around Widecombe-in-the-Moor, a village in Dartmoor, Devon, UK. The focus is mostly on the immediate area around Widecombe village, and encompasses the hills and moorland as well as the valley in which the village sits, but also includes parts of the wider parish. This is an ancient landscape, as evidenced by the many archaeological features still present, which can easily be spotted just by walking around. Many of the buildings that can be seen today also bear evidence to this earlier time.
This is not a comprehensive study, but picks out specific aspects of Widecombe’s history, either areas that have not been addressed before, or where a new perspective is shown on existing familiar history. As a result, the reader should discover some new and, hopefully, surprising, and interesting Widecombe related topics.
The book should help the reader to understand the multi-faceted richness of what is a relatively small part of the moor, feeding the spirit with the rugged beauty, the peace, the skies that often race by and bring rapidly changing weather, and the relatively ‘unspoilt’ nature of the landscape even though it has been moulded by the actions of humans over recent millennia. It is also intended to help the reader enjoy the parish landscape either whilst out and about, or from the comfort of an armchair. It adds further richness to an already rich landscape, and thus hopefully makes a visit or a mental image that much more enjoyable.
Some of the interpretations made in this book are necessarily conjectural and personal. The reader is encouraged to make up their own mind about what they see, and to just enjoy being in this unique part of the world.
Buy Your Own Copy
You can buy a copy of the book to be sent directly to you by using the 'Buy Now' button on the right. This takes you to a secure PayPal connection where you can use your preferred debit/credit card to make the purchase. Please note that we are only shipping the book within the UK. Please buy directly from Amazon using the link on the right if you live outside the UK. Please choose the UK postage option if you require the book to be posted to you. If you live within reach of Widecombe, local pickup can be arranged if you prefer, so choose the option without postage. In all cases please ensure that we have your correct email and postal addresses.
In case of problems, or if you would like to contact me first, or use a different payment method such as bank transfer or cash at the time of pickup, please use the 'Contact Me' page to send me an email.
To buy a paperback copy of 'Widecombe's Ancient Landscape' to be sent to you or for local pickup, choose your postage option and then pay using your normal debit/credit card with or without a PayPal account by using the button below.
Would you like more information on paying with PayPal?
To view and buy the Amazon hardback or paperback editions, or the Kindle edition, you can use the below link to access it on the amazon.co.uk site, or you can search for the ASIN B0C9SBXM1J in your home marketplace.
Resources
The Interactive Google Maps
How to Use the Maps
The map elements are arranged in layers as far as is possible (a map is currently limited to ten layers).
Each element (e.g. owner/occupier) is in a single layer. Layers can be turned on or off from the layers panel on the left-hand-side. If this panel is not showing use the layer button to show the panel and hide it again after use. When you turn a layer off, the items in that layer no longer show on the map. When you turn the layer back on, the items re-appear. So, by having a single layer set 'on' you can see the items in that layer and no others. This enables you to focus on, e.g. a particular holding or farm. The layers are also colour-coded as another way of distinguishing one from another.
You can obviously zoom in and out and pan around the maps in the normal way. You can also swap between different map views such as satellite, terrain etc.
To view the maps in a separate window, click on the full-screen icon in the top-right-hand-corner of the map (it looks like the four corners of a square).
Dunstone Manor (Dunstone Side)
Field Ownership at the time of the Tithe Map 1844
Dunstone Manor (Blackslade Side)
Field Ownership at the time of the Tithe Map 1844
Hameldown and Wind Tor Field Boundaries
This map shows the fossilised field boundaries on the southern part of Hameldown as well as some other landscape features.
Widecombe Parish Manor Boundaries (Approximate)
This map shows the relative sizes and boundaries of the various manors in Widecombe parish. It is approximate as various sources consulted appear to have some small discrepancies. Also a map of Blackaton manor bounds has not been studied.
360 degree images
Map of Widecombe Village Centre
To view this in a separate full-sized window click on the full-sceen icon in the top-right-hand-corner
Widecombe Charters from the British Library
The PDF document below contains transcriptions and translations of some of the old charters found in the British Library collections. They were originally at the British Museum. They have primarily been selected because they identify local places and some local names.
To view the full-size PDF document, click on the pop-out icon
Widecombe BL Charters TandT.pdfUseful Links from the Text
Here is a list of useful links to external works, websites etc., mentioned in the text
Exeter Cathedral Collections and Archive
South West Heritage Trust Devon Archives
Devonshire Association Transactions
English Field Systems - Historic England
There is an extremely valuable source of numerous early books including those relating to Widecombe at: www.archive.org
For more on the The Dunstone or Dunstone Rock see: www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/15093/dun_stone.html
Do visit the National Library of Scotland’s invaluable maps website, including their side-by-side viewer: https://maps.nls.uk
Dartmoor National Park factsheet on farming on Dartmoor from prehistoric times (or search ‘DNPA farming on Dartmoor’): https://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/72095/lab- farming.pdf
Information sources for the Domesday Book can be found at:
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/domesday/
Hull Domesday Project: https://www.domesdaybook.net/
The Pipe Roll Society’s website will be found at: https://piperollsociety.co.uk/
You can explore Old English here https://omniglot.com/writing/oldenglish.htm
Devon Tithe maps and apportionments can be found at: https://www.devon.gov.uk/historicenvironment/tithe-map/
The Widecombe archive can be found at: https://www.widecombearchive.org.uk
Supplementary Bibliography
As further books and other material come to my attention, I will add them here.
Beeson, M. M. R., and Masterman, M. C. H., An Archaeological Survey of Enclosed Land in Widecombe-in-the-Moor Parish, Devon Committee for Rescue Archaeology Publication number 7, 1979.
Moore, Stuart A., and others, A Short History of the Rights of Common upon the Forest of Dartmoor and the Commons of Devon, originally published in 1890 by the Dartmoor Preservation Association, Plymouth, reprinted by the British Library, Historical Print Editions.
Pryor, Francis, The Making of the British Landscape - How we Have Transformed the Land, from Prehistory to Today, Allen Lane, London, 2010.
Reader Comments
From David Thomas (September 2023):
Interesting book and good directions to other sources. More than worth the price.
Not mentioned in your bibliography (though I think the Widecombe Archive have a paper copy), you may be interested in An Archaeological Survey of Enclosed Land in Widecombe-in-the-Moor Parish by M M R Beeson and C H Masterman - Devon Committee for Rescue Archaeology Publication number 7.
In view of your understandable focus on Dunstone, you may be interested to know that the 1897-9 History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County of Devon by William White lists - Thomas Hern, farmer, Lower Dunstone; Richard Mann, farmer, Great Dunstone; George Nosworthy, farmer, Lower Dunstone; William Roberts, carpenter, Higher Dunstone; Elias Smerdon, Dunstone Cottage; Townsend Daniel, boot and shoe maker, Higher Dunstone.
It seems that records of my own property on Natsworthy go back to c1250, though the current house was originally late medieval (according to the listing) or 16th century (according to Gawne and Sanders) - much modified since.
[Author's note: Thanks David, your comments are much appreciated. I have added the Beeson and Masterman work to the Supplementary Bibliography above. This is an extremely informative read. Also, I might add some details of local properties and their histories as a separate page on this site.]
From Legendary Dartmoor (extract from book review - September 2023):
Widecombe’s Ancient Landscape takes the reader on a journey through time and through the landscape around the Widecombe-in-the-Moor area. Starting from when the prehistoric hunter gatherers led their nomadic ways of life and on to medieval and post medieval times. If you would like a true example of a Dartmoor palimpsest then one can be found in this book. Within the 160 pages are three main parts which are then subdivided into various aspects of the Widecombe landscape. These include twenty three topics ranging from the early prehistoric landscape furniture, the geographical features, the industrial archaeology, the flora and fauna, the various manor and their bounds, early religious connections and land ownership. The book is full of numerous photographs, OS map extracts, digital mapping, diagrams and early document extracts all of which add to the narrative and bring it alive. If ever they was something to encourage people to get out and explore Dartmoor for themselves then it must be this book.
I can thoroughly recommend purchasing “Widecombe’s Ancient Landscape” for an informative and enjoyable read and it's a book that surely must have a place in any Dartmoor library whilst also appealing to those visiting the area and those further afield. If I have but one small suggestion to make it would possibly be the inclusion and etymology of the old evocative placenames to be found in the area. Roger also has an excellent website which also contains some fascinating information about the book.
Source: https://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/2023/09/07/widecombes-landscape/
[Author's note: Many thanks for this kind review. I will try to cover place-name etymology in a future work.]