Divine Dartmoor Walks: see the legendary Crazywell Pool

By Gillian Adams, on Friday, July 2, 2010

A South West Dartmoor five-and-a-half mile walk of medium difficulty, crossing the ancient Monk’s Path and taking in ‘bottomless’ Crazywell Pool and Devonport Leat, which once supplied water to Devonport Dockyard

THE waterproofs were all packed on this overcast day as I headed off to Norsworthy Bridge (SX 569693) at Burrator Reservoir with two friends for a medium difficulty walk of 5.5 miles.

There are so many walks around this area it’s difficult to choose one but some beautiful views and a bit of history persuaded me onto this route.

The hill up from Norsworthy Bridge is not one of my favourites as it’s quite rocky and seems to go one for a long time (about a mile) – but it’s soon over and view back towards the reservoir is definitely worth it!

Once we left the trees behind us it wasn’t long before we saw the cross, so after following the main path for a bit, we went left, up over moorland to the cross (SX 584704) and enjoyed some more of those lovely views.

The cross is believed to have been one of many on Dartmoor which marked the Monk’s Path – an ancient trackway that linked Buckfast Abbey to those at Tavistock and Buckland.

Not far from the cross is Crazywell Pool (if you get to the leat before the pool, you’ve gone too far!). There are many legends about the pool including that it’s bottomless and it’s height rose and fell with the tides at sea. However, the reality is that it was most likely an excavation by tin miners – either a flooded shaft or a reservoir.

Then it was on to Devonpont Leat, which once supplied water to Devonport Dockyard. Built in the 1790s it now stops at the reservoir. There is a steep and rocky bit down to the aqueduct (SX 574714) which also gives the leat a nice waterfall effect. From here we popped up to Black Tor (SX 578714). If you don’t wish to view Black Tor up close the walk will be about half a mile less.

There are many remains of tin workings around Black Tor, if you wish to take some time to explore, including a blowing house and a logan stone, however, it was at this point that the overcast sky let rip and we all got a little wet so it was a short visit! Luckily, the rain stopped once we got back to the leat.

We followed the leat along and into Stanlake Plantation. The path was easy from here and it’s very pretty among the trees and also ideal for a picnic lunch.

Shortly after we came out of the gate at the other end of the plantation there was a signpost to Norsworthy Bridge, which took us down and back to the car, still feeling slightly damp, but the views were definitely worth it.

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View Divine Dartmoor Walks: South West Dartmoor: Crazywell Pool and Devonport Leat in a larger map

• When walking on Dartmoor please ensure you take the right equipment with you, eg, waterproof, walking boots, water, a map, plus your common sense.