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Countryside

South Devon Countryside

Wrapped around the east and south of Dartmoor is an inland area of hilly agricultural land, home to most of the local population in a dozen or so towns and countless villages and hamlets. Although the influence of the moor and the coast predominates in South Devon, this inland area can claim a character entirely its own. Serenity and calm pervades the place - its lacework of green lanes, bridleways and footpaths, its scattered homestead farms, its deep, quiet valleys offer a landscape in which you can, literally as well as metaphorically, lose yourself. The green lanes specifically offer a wonderful way to discover the magical landscape, set in between acres and acres of farmland some of which is open to the public for exploring interesting plants, birds and even bugs, and offer their own farm walks. There is always something new to discover as the South Hams district itself has more than 190 individual green lanes covering 180 miles.

The old market towns that favour the moorland edge or the estuary heads could be a million miles from these secluded coombes.

So make time to slow-travel this enraptured land tucked between moor and sea. There's a whole new world to discover here. For a brief sketch of some of the delightful villages to be found, click on countryside inland villages or also see Dartmoor Villages.