Publisher's website 2016
The forty-three mile boundary of the ‘Ancient Forest of Dartmoor’, at the heart of the National Park, is an established long distance walk. Twelve knights first undertook the walk in 1240 on the orders of King Henry III. Their aim was to define the boundary so that fees for those using the royal land could be exacted.
This sumptuously illustrated book provides the reader with the comprehensive story of how Dartmoor’s Greatest Long Distance Walk came into being. It also gives details of sixteen excursions that modern-day walkers may undertake to retrace the route of the twelve medieval knights who first undertook this historic ‘perambulation’.
Their work has been re-interpreted many times since 1240 but for the first time, in this book, using modern navigational tools and after extensive research in archives and in the field, the author details a contemporary interpretation of the boundary.
This book offers a summary of previous studies, a guide to the locations of the historical artifacts examined, and includes suggestions for walks on the moor. It will hopefully act as a spur for others to retrace this part of our Royal history. Here are maps covering sixteen walks, some short, some long, with a description of each in order that the present-day walker might retrace part of our Royal heritage while exploring historic Dartmoor for themselves.
