The Crossing of Dartmoor

Abstract

An east-west route across Dartmoor, marked by a series oflate medieval granite crosses, probably goes back at least to the eighth century; it is the moorland component of the pre-Conquest road from Ashburton (and Exeter) to Tavistock and then through Horsebridge and into central Cornwall. The road links up with, and partly follows, another road linking important early medieval places in west Devon, which may once have related to the ‘frontier’ with Cornwall. Such early roads originated as instruments of elite control and were critical engines of regional military and political stratagems. Understanding their courses, in conjunction with other evidence, may aid the reconstruction of pre- Conquest settlement and political geography.

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