Dartmoor in Pictures: 12 Photos of Vast and Silent Spaces

“Look at the noises on the moor at night. There’s not a man would cross it after sundown if he was paid for it. Look at this stranger hiding out yonder, and watching and waiting! What’s he waiting for? What does it mean? It means no good to anyone of the name of Baskerville…”
– The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle

Dartmoor’s landscape demands attention. It’s big, bold, and unforgiving. Over the centuries, the moors of Dartmoor National Park have been cast in a shadowy light: they were the setting for Arthur Conan Doyle’s gothic tale The Hound of the Baskervilles, Agatha Christie‘s eerie novel The Sittaford Mystery, and writers continue even now to take inspiration from these monstrous hills.

When I think of Dartmoor in pictures, I first think rocky tors and hikers bounding across the landscape, but large parts of the park are barren and empty – unadulterated moor, filled with booming silence. Although I’ve spoken before about the human element of visiting Dartmoor, I took great pleasure in looking out over the deserted terrain, and listening to the nothingness that floods it.

This is the British countryside – uninterrupted, in all its glory – and these are the photos I took, standing high on the moor.

Have you been anywhere in the world that looks like this?
Tell me about it in the comments below!