This Page is under development
Dartefacts (short for ‘Dartmoor’s Artefacts’) are hard to find – not just because they can be small, barely inscribed rocks hidden under a prickly gorse bush, but because the information as to their whereabouts was spread throughout a vast collection of dusty old books, obscure magazine articles, word of mouth and tricky to locate online sources and blogs. Dartmoor is rich in these ‘points of interest’ and the Dartefacts Project seeks to efficiently communicate and share this aspect of the moorland.
Once you have found a Dartefact (and if you have Subscribed to this website) then you can ‘tick off’ and record your find.
- Dartefact Tick-List: A useful list for ticking off Dartefacts without having to go to every item page.
- Top Dartefacts: The most visited Dartefacts (according to website data).
- Top Dartefacters: Subscribers listed in order of the number of Dartefacts they have ‘ticked-off’.
- D1044 Information Page
- D365 Information Page
- CLICK HERE to Subscribe to Dartefacts and start ‘ticking off’ visited Dartefacts (Dartefacting!)
CLICK HERE: Important information to read before using this website
PRIVATE LAND: Many of the items listed on this website, especially around the edges of the National Park Boundary, are entirely on private land and in that instance access must be sought from the landowner before visiting. Do not assume that a listed item is legally accessible.
FIRING RANGES: Military Training involving Live Firing takes place on Dartmoor and it is up to the individual to find out if their route enters any of the military firing ranges and whether firing is taking place.
RISK ASSESSMENT: Although these routes attempt to highlight points of potential difficulty via the ‘Challenges’, as with any outdoor activity it is the responsibility of the individual to judge and ascertain the safety and suitability of any route attempted.
SAFETY IN THE OUTDOORS: It is not Dartefacts remit to provide any advice on safety in the outdoors. Dartefacts recommends reading ‘Walking on Dartmoor’, Published by Cicerone, Steve Davison (2023).
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: No responsibility for trespass, injury or damage to property or persons etc. can be attributed to this website and the author of these routes.
DATA: All data and GPX map lines on this website should all be considered approximate and subjective. Some items may no longer exist – but are recorded anyway as it is curious to know that they were once there – and they may yet turn up.
How it all started..
It was one sunny, Sunday afternoon (around 2012-13), as I was walking down from Crazy Well Pool, that I had a crazy idea. It suddenly dawned on me that a list of a few items to visit on a tatty piece of paper and a few indelible marks on my map could be given a 21st Century digital makeover and shared with others online: Dartmoor’s Artefacts or “Dartefacts”, as I quickly shortened it to, was born!
A ‘Dartefact’ is defined by this website as; ‘an object, site or feature found on Dartmoor, typically of cultural, historical, cartographical or geological interest’.
“Power User” Tips:
- Breadcrumbs (just below the menu bar)
Once you have selected a Classification or an individual Dartefact item you can use the ‘Breadcrumbs’ to select a previous ‘higher level’ of Classification. In the example above, clicking on ‘Abandoned Granite’ would list a very large collection of all the pieces of granite that have been ‘worked’ and then abandoned on the moors.
- Search Box (far right of Menu Bar)
Click on the text ‘Search by name/grid square’ to open up the ‘Search … ‘ text box. Type in the name of an item, or a classification or anything and the site will search the entire database for those ‘keywords’. You can also use the search box to view specific areas, such as typing sx66 will show all Dartefacts within the ‘SX 66’ area. Be sure to NOT leave a space between the x and the numbers – it must be sx66 or SX66.
- DarteInfo and the ‘Resources and Acknowledgments’ Pages:
DarteInfo Page:
Resources and Acknowledgments Page: Every person and website that has helped contribute towards the Dartefacts database is acknowledged on the Resources and Acknowledgments Page. This page is also probably the most extensive list of Dartmoor Resources available anywhere online. A considerable number of books have also been used in compiling the Dartefacts Database and many have yet to be listed here.
- Nearby Dartefacts and Squares Tab List:
Immediately below the map on a Dartefact Page is the ‘Nearby Dartefacts and Squares:‘ Tabs List. This provides a list of items, in distance order, up to approximately a 3km distance from the currently selected item. If on a PC then hovering over a tab will ‘light it up’ to indicate that it can be selected to be viewed.
The Tabs provide brief item information such as the item name, its simple compass direction from the current item selected on the map, it’s bearing and distance in kilometres. The distance is to 3 decimal places so 0.128 means the item is 128 metres away.
There are a number of icons which can display; the Classification Darticon, the Dartmoor 365 Darticon (if it is a 365 book item), a thumbnail photo (if the item has one) and a DarteRoute Darticon if that Dartefact is visited by a DarteRoute.
If you are a Non-Subscriber or a Subscriber and not logged in then these tabs are displayed as simple grey rectangles. Subscribers who Log in will see either a red dashed outline (the Dartefact has not been ‘ticked off’) or a solid green line (‘ticked off’).
- Classification Tick List and ‘Bulk-Ticking’ (Subscribers Only):
There is an option on every Classification Page to view the ‘Classification Tick List’. This is a page that lists all of the Dartefacts in that Classification for easy ‘ticking’. There is also a ‘Bulk-Ticking‘ option there which allows a Subscriber to tick off an entire classification group in one go (or remove ALL ticks if required.. Be careful with this option as it could obviously ruin a lot of hard ticking work!!)
“DarteBoxing” Letterboxing but with a Dartefacts’ twist (Subscribers Only)
Letterboxing with Dartefacts – Ten soon to be released LetterBox Stamps “DarteStamps” that use the Dartefacts website to hide their Dartmoor locations. An announcement will be made when our Dartefacts’ Letterbox Clue Sheet is released. Almost constant rain, on the days available to site our boxes and an extended period of subscription testing, has significantly delayed the release of our Clue Sheet. Each letterbox stamp has a letter to spell out D A R T E F A C T S and each stamp relates to a Dartefacts’ classification item. The Clue Sheet will be available on this page and to paid subscription members ONLY.
D = Dartmoor 365 – for the popular book activity and Facebook group
A = Apple Crusher
R = Reservoirs
T = Tethering Rings
E = Ex Trig Points
F = Firing Range Huts
A = Abandoned Worked Granite – Stone Troughs, Manga Farm Stone Trough
C = Crosses, Widgery Cross
T = Tors, Lints Tor
S = Standing Stones
Letterboxing Code of Conduct:
The DarteStamps will not be placed in the immediate vicinity of any archeologically sensitive items or areas and will adhere to DNPA bylaws and Letterboxing guidance:
