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Mossy green boulders by the river Plym at Shaugh Bridge, Devon
The River Plym at Shaugh Bridge | © National Trust Images / Mick Jones
Devon

Plym Valley bricks, boulders and bronze walk

An invigorating walk through woodland, over moorland and alongside the River Meavy, with views of Dartmoor and South Devon. You'll pass imposing granite crags, such as the infamous Dewerstone, and the remains of quarries, a 19th-century brickworks and a Bronze Age burial.

Total steps: 9

Total steps: 9

Start point

National Trust car park, Shaugh Bridge, near Shaugh Prior, grid ref SX533637

Step 1

Starting in the car park next to a disused china clay kiln, take the path that begins at the notice board and cross the footbridge over the River Plym. Directly in front of you, you'll see the remains of the Ferro-Ceramic mine and brickworks. Continue by following the granite boulder pathway eastwards uphill.

Step 2

Stay on this pathway as it curves sharply round to the left and continues uphill for another 33yd (30m) before levelling out to form what was the granite quarry tramway. Follow this former tramway track round the hill, passing quarries on your right.

Step 3

When you reach a fork in the track, bear right and head up the old tramway incline. At the top you'll be facing the cable house.

Step 4

From the cable house, head south along the higher tramway track, passing more granite quarries on your left. At the end of the tramway, follow the path up the hill, round to your left and over a stone wall to the summit of Dewerstone Hill.

Step 5

From the summit, head north-east towards the corner of the stone-walled boundary of the Cadworthy Farm enclosures, keeping the woodland edge and stone wall in sight on your right. Follow the wall to a lonely, windswept oak tree embedded in the wall.

A climber on the side of a tall rock, the Dewerstone in the Plym Valley in Dartmoor, Devon
A climber tackling the Dewerstone in the Plym Valley, Devon | © National Trust Images/John Millar

Step 6

Head west across Wigford Down until you reach a set of farm enclosures. Follow the stone wall all the way to the road at Urgles Stone Cross.

Step 7

Bear left and follow the road down to the bottom of the hill.

Step 8

Before the bridge over the River Meavy, bear left and go over a stile onto a track towards Dewerstone Cottage. You'll join the incomplete granite quarry tramway and pass through a long cutting, followed by a wooden gate.

Step 9

Immediately after the cottage (the former counting house for the quarrying company), take the right-hand path down to the River Meavy. Continue along this riverside path back to the car park.

End point

National Trust car park, Shaugh Bridge, near Shaugh Prior, grid ref SX533637

Trail map

Ordnance Survey Plym Valley bricks, boulders and bronze walk Shaugh Bridge map
The Plym Valley bricks, boulders and bronze walk at Shaugh Bridge | © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey

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on Dartmoor, near Shaugh Prior, Devon

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