Dartmoor is beautiful, wild, and full of incredible places to explore. The granite that forms it was produced, in the depths of the earth, over 300 million years ago, and humankind has shaped it over the last 10,000 years. Together, they have made Dartmoor into a wonderful landscape, full of varied habitats, from wooded valleys and haymeadows to magnificent mires and the wild open moor.

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Wildlife: Naturally Diverse

Dartmoor is home to a fantastic diversity of wildlife and habitats, much of it rare and protected. The special habitats on Dartmoor are a result of the geology of the moor and the influences of people over 4,000 years

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Geology

Dartmoor’s landscape is dominated by rocks. Granite is the main rock type and can be seen in many dramatic outcrops (tors) and on boulder-strewn slopes.

The granite was formed around 280 million years ago thrusting upwards under older rocks into the area we now know as Devon and Cornwall. Over a very long time, the overlying rocks have been eroded by nature to expose the granite beneath and shape the moor we see today. These processes have produced the soils and conditions to which certain wild plants are particularly suited.

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The influence of farming

Dartmoor may look like a wild landscape but it has been shaped over time by the way it has been farmed. Through a very long tradition of grazing with cattle, sheep and ponies, certain plants and habitats have thrived. Habitats such as Postbridge’s wonderful wildflower meadows exist only because of the long tradition of haymaking in the area which has favoured these species to grow.