Settlements

The ruins scattered across this Devon moorland are what's left of medieval villages that people simply abandoned. You won't find neat signs or visitor facilities here - just foundations, field walls, and the occasional chimney stack poking through the bracken. Walking among them takes patience, but it rewards you with a proper sense of how people actually lived centuries ago, away from the sanitised museum version.

Histories types will find this absorbing. You're looking at evidence of settlement patterns, agricultural organisation, shifts in population during plague years and economic collapse. Children might manage twenty minutes before the novelty of wandering scrubland wears thin, unless they're already keen on archaeology.

The best approach is to download information beforehand - there's no visitor centre, and mobile signal can be dodgy. Allow at least ninety minutes if you're serious about it. Spring and early autumn beat summer when the grass grows thick and obscures features.

Tavistock lies just a few miles south and makes a sensible base. From there, Dartmoor National Park is within easy reach, so you could combine a morning poking about the settlements with afternoon walks across proper moorland. Langstone Manor, closer by at under three miles, offers decent facilities if you're staying locally.

This isn't for casual visitors wanting Instagram moments. But if you're the sort who gets excited by earthworks and abandoned villages, Devon's moorland will keep you genuinely engaged.