Museum of Dartmoor Life Museums

Could you live without electricity?

Could you cope without central heating?

Where would you get food and clothes if there were no supermarkets or clothes shops?

WOULD YOU SURVIVE?

The people of Dartmoor did.

Dartmoor is the last wilderness in southern England. It is often regarded as a bleak upland area, home to wildlife and little else. However, its environment has been created through human use and exploitation: from prehistoric settlement to twentieth century mining.

The recently refurbished displays at the Museum of Dartmoor Life feature the home and working lives of people who lived on and around Dartmoor. The museum building itself was a granary built in 1811. Its

picturesque Victorian cobbled courtyard features granite rails on which the wheels of carts would run between West Street and the mill.

In addition to three floors of exhibits, the building also includes a state-of-the-art Gallery where special exhibitions and other events are staged. At the side of the building is a large working waterwheel - which used to be busy in the valley at what is now Roadford Reservoir.