Okehampton

The old travel-writer’s cliché of a ‘county of contrasts’ can’t be avoided when describing the landscape around Okehampton. To the north and west, the puckered green hills of North Devon roll away to the coast; to the south, lie the wildest stretches of Dartmoor with the great peaks of High Willhays and Yes Tor rising to more than 2000 feet. At this height they are, officially, mountains, but quite puny compared with their original altitude: geologists believe that at one time the surface of Dartmoor stood at 15,000 feet above sea level. Countless centuries of erosion have reduced it to a plateau of whale-backed granite ridges with an average height of around 1200 feet. After so many millions of years of erosion, the moor has become strewn with fragments of surface granite, or moorstone. It was because of this ready-to-use stone that Dartmoor became one of the most populous areas of early Britain, its inhabitants using the easily quarried granite to create their stone rows, circles, and burial chambers. Stone was also used to build their distinctive hut-circles of which there are more than 1500 scattered across the moor.

From Celtic times Okehampton has occupied an important position on the main route to Cornwall. Romantically sited atop a wooded hill and dominating the surrounding valley of the River Okement are the remains of Okehampton Castle (English Heritage). This is the largest medieval castle in Devon and the ruins are still mightily impressive even though the castle was dismantled on the orders of Henry VIII after its owner, the Earl of Devon, was convicted of treason.

A good place to start a tour of the town is the Museum of Dartmoor Life, housed in a former mill with a restored water wheel outside. Here, in the three galleries, the story of life on Dartmoor, down the ages, is told and, in particular, the museum displays illustrate how the moorland has shaped the lives of its inhabitants and vice versa.  In the surrounding courtyard, you will also find a tearoom and the tourist information centre with books and gifts. 

Amongst the town’s many interesting buildings are the 15th-century Chapel of Ease, and the Town Hall, a striking three-storey building erected in 1685 as a private house and converted to its current use in the 1820s. And don’t miss the wonderful Victorian arcade within the shopping centre, which is reminiscent of London’s Burlington Arcade.

Okehampton is also the hub of the Dartmoor Railway, part of the former Southern Railway main line from London to Plymouth and Cornwall. This was once the route of the famous Atlantic Coast Express and the Devon Belle Pullman. Today, the company runs trains from Crediton and climbs into theNational Park, terminating at Meldon Viaduct. Okehampton Station has been restored to its 1950s appearance, complete with buffet and licensed bar. Sampford Courtenay Station, 3½ miles to the east was re-opened in 2004 and provides access to pleasant walking routes, including the Devon Heartlands Way footpath. To the west, Meldon Quarry Station is the highest station in southern England. It has two visitor centres, a buffet with a licensed bar, a picnic area and a spectacular verandah giving wonderful views of Dartmoor’s highest tors and the Meldon Reservoir dam.