place

Sheepstor

DartmoorVillages in Devon
Sheepstor village
Sheepstor village

Sheepstor is a village, civil parish and former manor on the western side of Dartmoor in the county of Devon, England. In 2001, its population was 53, down from 95 in 1901. For administrative purposes the parish is grouped with the parishes of Meavy and Walkhampton to form Burrator Parish Council, and for electoral purposes it is grouped with the same two parishes to form Burrator Ward. Burrator Reservoir, constructed in 1898, is to the north of the village and forms part of the northern boundary of the parish.The name Sheepstor has evolved considerably since the first reference to a settlement here which was recorded in a pipe roll of 1168 as Sitelestorra. In a document of 1262, it was Skytelestor, Shittestorre in 1474, Shistor in 1547 and in c. 1620 Tristram Risdon called it Shetelstor now Shepstor. The name probably derives from the Old English scyttel(s) meaning a bar or bolt, reflecting the shape of the nearby Sheeps Tor.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Sheepstor (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Sheepstor
Portland Lane, West Devon

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: SheepstorContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 50.490847 ° E -4.03204 °
placeShow on map

Address

Portland Lane

Portland Lane
PL20 6PQ West Devon
England, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

Sheepstor village
Sheepstor village
Share experience

Nearby Places

Burrator Reservoir
Burrator Reservoir

Burrator Reservoir is a reservoir on the south side of Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. It is one of a number of reservoirs and dams that were built over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries in the area now covered by Dartmoor National Park to supply drinking water to the city of Plymouth and other rapidly growing towns in the surrounding lowlands. Burrator Reservoir was completed in 1898, and the reservoir was expanded in 1929. The reservoir was built under the supervision of Edward Sandeman (1862-1959), the Water Engineer for Plymouth. The reservoir has two dams, the Burrator Dam, which is built across the River Meavy at Burrator Gorge at the south-western end, and the Sheepstor Dam built on a dividing ridge between the Meavy and Sheepstor Brook at the south-eastern end. The Burrator Dam was the first of the two to be built, with construction starting on 9 August 1893. It is the more massive of the two dams, constructed of concrete faced with granite blocks. The Sheepstor Dam was built in 1894 and is an earth embankment with a core wall of puddled clay above the original ground level, with a concrete section below ground. The reservoir was officially opened on 21 September 1898.In 1923 it was decided to enlarge the capacity from 668 million gallons to 1,026 million. This was achieved by raising the height of both dams by 10 feet. Work began in December 1923, and a temporary suspension bridge was built near Burrator Dam to carry traffic while the work proceeded. The reservoir was officially re-opened on 12 September 1928. In the 1930s the watershed on Dartmoor for the reservoir was stated to be 5,360 acres. The present-day area of the reservoir at overflow level is about 150 acres. The edges of the reservoir are planted with commercial forests.The reservoir is now managed by the South West Lakes Trust, and is a popular spot for leisure activities including walking, cycling and fishing.

Burrator and Sheepstor Halt railway station
Burrator and Sheepstor Halt railway station

Burrator and Sheepstor Halt railway station was located on the 10.5 mile long single track branch railway line in Devon, England, running from Yelverton to Princetown with eventually four intermediate stations. The station was opened as Burrator Platform and became Burrator Halt when it was opened to the public, the name being changed again in 1929 to Burrator and Sheepstor Halt.Opened as Burrator Platform on Monday 4 February 1924 the station at first only catered for workmen employed on the raising of the Burrator and Sheepstor Dams when Burrator Reservoir was enlarged. This service consisted of a morning train that left Princetown at 6:27 am for Dousland and Yelverton and then, after collecting workmen off the 6:20 am from Millbay Station, left Yelverton Station at 6:58 am, stopping at Burrator and Sheepstor Platform at 7:05 am to set them down. On Mondays to Fridays the 4:05 pm from Princetown called at Burrator at 4:30 pm to pick up workmen for the homeward journey. On Saturday mornings the 12:25 pm from Princetown called at 12:50 pm to collect workers and the later train would then not stop.From Thursday 6 November 1924 the early morning trains ran only on Monday mornings. The 4:05 pm from Princetown no longer called, but the return journey, the 4:55 pm from Yelverton did. For the remainder of the week the 7:38 am from Princetown conveyed the workmen to Burrator. Burrator and Sheepstor Platform was opened to the general public as from Monday 18 May 1925 and was served by trains during daylight hours only.Its later traffic was almost entirely walkers and like Ingra Tor Halt it was retained in an attempt to counter competition from local bus services and encourage tourist traffic.