Dartmoor Preservation Association
DPA logo embroidered on leisurewear
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| Conservation charity | |
| Founded | 1883 |
| Headquarters | Old Duchy Hotel, Princetown, Yelverton, Devon, PL20 6QF |
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Area served
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Dartmoor National Park |
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Key people
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| Website | www |
Dartmoor Preservation Association (DPA) is one of the oldest environmental or amenity bodies in the UK. It was founded in 1883. It concerns itself with Dartmoor, a National Park in Devon, south-west England. It began with two main areas of concern. Firstly, commoners’ rights were being eroded through army use, including the firing of live artillery shells, and piecemeal enclosure of land around the margins. Secondly, there was increasing public interest in Dartmoor’s scenery, archaeology, history and wildlife
The DPA has opposed what it considered to be unsuitable developments on Dartmoor throughout its history. In its founding year, the secretary, Robert Burnard persuaded the War Department not to fire on the Okehampton Firing Range on Saturdays to allow access to the public. Many battles have been fought since, particularly against the military presence and the proposed building of reservoirs on the moor, notably under the Chairmanship of Lady Sayer, granddaughter of Robert Burnard.
The DPA continues to follow the same objectives as when it was founded. For example, in June 2015, it supported the inhabitants of Widecombe-in-the-Moor against the erecting of a telecommunications mast in an area of pristine countryside against the wishes of the local population.
Dartmoor Preservation Association is a registered charity, Number 215665.
Dartmoor is said to be one of the last remaining areas of wilderness in Britain, but it has been a managed landscape since the late Neolithic (3,000-2,500 BCE). The Bronze Age inhabitants (from 2,500 to 750 BCE) cleared ancient forest and developed farming. They made extensive use of surface in the construction of roundhouses (their remains now seen as "hut circles"), enclosures, land-dividing reaves, stone rows, stone circles, menhirs and kistvaens.
Farming has continued through the Medieval period to the present day, but a more disruptive activity to the landscape was the appearance of tin-mining, firstly by stream-working, then by lode-working and finally by underground mining. Many valleys have been dug over and scarred, leaving a rich industrial archaeology. Other activities such as newtake wall building,peat cutting, rabbit warrening, quarrying, clay extraction and the building of a prominent prison have all left marks on the moor. Recent undertakings have left more obvious changes: the building of reservoirs and the planting of conifer forests.
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Wikipedia