Chagford, Gidleigh Tor and Holystreet Manor

/ 02/02/2025

So a walk to pick off a couple of tors for Linda, one that I needed for my round 2, plus a new Dartmoor 365 square and a couple that we’d been to before, alongside a pub to finish. The Dartmoor square was E13 and Gidleigh and was walk 68 on my Round 2 of those. Chagford is one of the best villages on Dartmoor, there’s plenty of interest to see and history to match, plus 4 pubs!! There is scope to extend this walk on to Scorhill Circle if you fancy it, but for us this was perfect. We started out from the new car park in Chagford, within the new build housing estate. Its not yet got a ticket machine but it can’t be long before it does. We first headed into Chagford and to its church, before walking the main street out in the direction of Chagford Bridge, with the roadworks closing this road to traffic it made for a quieter walk down the narrowing lanes. We crossed the even narrower bridge and headed into the woodland, along a path named as the Taw Teign Link, which links Chagford to Sticklepath. We headed into Gidleigh to look first at the church there, before heading to the nearby tor. We next dropped into the woodland below to pick up North Park Tor, it won’t be too long before this sprawling woodland tor is open to the elements, as the non native woodland covering it now, is removed. Climbing steeply up the other side of the valley we turned back in the direction of Chagford, crossing Leigh Bridge, after negotiating an especially muddy path which started after Teigncombe. Finally we passed the grand looking Holystreet Manor before climbing up into Chagford and a well earned beer, at the fire side in the Three Crowns, where during the English Civil war a Cavalier was killed in the porch by a Roundhead as the battles in the countryside raged. History is all around in Chagford.

Start – Chagford

Route – Chagford Church – Chagford Bridge – Taw Teign Link – Murchington – Blackaton Bridge – Gidleigh Mill – Gidleigh – Gidleigh Church – Gidleigh Tor – North Park Tor – North Teign Bridge – Teigncombe – Leigh Bridge – Leigh Bridge Cross – Holystreet Manor – Three Crowns Chagford

Distance – 7.5 miles  Start time – 11.30am  Time taken – 4hrs  Highest Point – Gidleigh Tor 334 metres

Weather – Cloudy all the way

© Crown copyright 2025 Ordnance Survey FL 2025 SF
Map of Chagford in the car park at the start of the walk
A bit of blue sky at Chagford Church, mainly though it was just cloud. Thankfully though we had better weather than at home where it was drizzly most of the day.
Inside Chagford Church
Roadworks in Chagford, meant the traffic was absent from this sometimes busy lane
Chagford Bridge, there was a structure here in the 1200s, this is a 1600’s build however.
As we climbed up away from Chagford Bridge we get views across to Meldon Hill. We stopped for a quick coffee here, leaning against an upturned bath!
Plenty of these around today, roadside banks and church grounds all full of these
Passing through Murchington
Lunch time for these two in front of Meldon Hill
Kes Tor is back right, and on the far right is North Park Wood, we will be there later
Cosdon Hill is further north
Fancy house
Gidleigh Mill, all converted into dwellings now though
Just after leaving Gidleigh Mill we saw this outcrop, no name for this one though on any website I could find
Gidleigh Church, a lovely stream ran through the church grounds so we had lunch on a bench here
Inside this small church is a fairly plain interior with the exception of the….
16th century roodscreen, all repainted in the 19th century and looking like new still today
Gidleigh Cross, we would be heading towards Scorhill, but turning off before that point. It would be a simple task to add on Scorhill Tor and stone circle to this walk if you wanted to lengthen it a bit
Views down mow to Nattadon Tor with the slopes of Meldon Hill disappearing behind the trees of North Park Wood
Gidleigh Tor looking south to Hameldown, cloud appears to be dropping around there
Kes Tor from Gidleigh Tor
We tried to drop into the woods from above, but the cut trees and scrub made for difficult passage, so we returned up and joined the path around into the woods. Lower outcrops of Gidleigh Tor are over there
Its not far into the woods to get to North Park Tor and you can see there’s not much further to go before they expose this tor to the open air
Its a vast sprawling tor
North Park Bridge, what would have been South Wood on the banks opposite, the trees there have been removed already
North Park Wood from the South side
Joining the road and turning for Chagford we enjoy the views to Meldon Hill again
Dinky door
Lovely scenes at Leigh Bridge
Leigh Bridge Tor with the cross of the same name on top
A keen eye will spot the Puggiestone in the garden of this house
Horns of the day go to this fella, a worthy winner
Holystreet Manor a Grade 2 listed house built in the late 16th century
A chapel resides in Holystreet Manor and a statue of St Boniface in on the exterior of the chapel now adorned with black goggles!!
Back up the hill into Chagford
Three Crowns, just be wary of any Roundheads in the porch
Refreshment time by the fire
One last photo of the church as we headed to the car, a superb walk around some lanes with stacks of interest at most points of the walk.

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17 thoughts on “Chagford, Gidleigh Tor and Holystreet Manor”

  5. Brilliant, varied walk (and post) with so much interest packed in. The rood screen looks amazing. The Three Crowns look like it might be another venerable building.

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  7. Pingback: Jo’s Monday walk : low tide at Cacela Velha | Still Restlessjo

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