Hound Tor Deserted Medieval Village

Hound Tor Deserted Medieval Village is an isolated farming hamlet on Dartmoor’s eastern edge, between Hound Tor and Greator Rocks. You’ll find low granite walls and the outlines of houses, not intact buildings to walk through. Eleven stone buildings formed what were probably three farm clusters; the largest longhouse was nearly 19 metres long. It’s a good stop if you’re curious about medieval life on the high moor, though the interest is in piecing the layout together rather than exploring a restored site.

By around 1200, perhaps 20 to 30 people lived here, growing oats and rye in narrow terraced strips and grazing sheep and cattle on the moor. A longhouse combined the living area and animal shelter; the granite buildings had thatched roofs, central hearths, and narrow high openings without glass. Excavations point to occupation in the 13th and 14th centuries. Colder, wetter conditions, harvest failures, and animal disease likely made life harder. Most surviving residents seem to have moved downhill in the first half of the 14th century, though pottery suggests a few stayed into its later decades.