Bellever

Bellever is a hamlet in Dartmoor, Devon, England. It is located on the river East Dart about 2 kilometres (1 mi) south of Postbridge.

Bellever

Bellever Youth Hostel
Bellever
Location within Devon
OS grid referenceSX6577
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townYELVERTON
Postcode districtPL20
Dialling code01822
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireDevon and Somerset
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament

The first mention of a settlement at this location is in a Duchy of Cornwall record from 1355 which gives the name of a farm here as Welford, a contraction of wielle (spring) and ford.[1] However, in his High Dartmoor (1983), Eric Hemery proposed that the name comes from bal (mine) and ford, meaning the mine by the ford.[2]

The River East Dart at Bellever

Until the period after World War II the hamlet consisted of Bellever Farm (owned by the Duchy of Cornwall) and its outbuildings, with a small number of cottages for the farm workers. The farm gained a reputation for the introduction of Galloway and Aberdeen Angus cattle onto Dartmoor.[3] However, in 1931 the Forestry Commission bought the farm and began a large planting scheme here; several houses were built in the 1950s to house the forestry workers.[4] The coniferous plantation known as Bellever Forest[4] surrounds the hamlet on its north, west and south sides.

In 1934 some of the barns of Bellever Farm were let to Youth Hostels Association (England & Wales) and now form the oldest, still functioning youth hostel in Devon.[5]

As of 2019 the hamlet is served by a daily bus service that runs between Yelverton, Princetown, Postbridge and Tavistock.[6] During the summer the Forestry Commission run a small visitor centre by the East Dart river.[7]

Bellever Tor lies 1.5 kilometres (1 mi) to the southwest.

References

  1. Gover, John; Mawer, Allan; Stenton, Sir Frank Merry (1932). Place-names of Devon. English Place-Name Society. 8. Cambridge University Press. p. 192.
  2. Hemery, Eric (March 1983). High Dartmoor: Land and People. Robert Hale. p. 486. ISBN 0-7091-8859-5.
  3. "The Bellever Bulls". Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  4. "Introduction to Bellever Forest" (PDF). Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  5. Maurice-Jones, Helen; Porter, Lindsey (2008). The Spirit of YHA. YHA. p. 149.
  6. "98 - Tavistock - Yelverton". Bus Times. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  7. "Bellever and Postbridge Trails" (PDF). Moor than meets the eye. Retrieved 3 July 2016.

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