Boasting a busy and historic town centre, resplendent with many attractions, along with shops, galleries and restaurants, Dartmouth is amongst the most popular and picturesque tourist destinations in Devon.
Set on the banks of the River Dart, just inland from the coast, the town owes its initial importance to its location as a deep water port in relatively close proximity to Normandy, on the other side of the Channel.
Connections with the sea remain strong till this day, although the harbour is now almost exclusively home to private yachts rather than men-o-war.
Driving in to Dartmouth and finding a place to park can sometimes prove challenging, and not just in summer. You could use the Park & Ride, to be found at the top of the town close to the Lidl and Sainsbury supermarkets, and let the bus take the strain. Alternatively you might prefer to take the ferry down the Dart from Totnes, savouring the stunning scenery. Similarly the heritage steam train from Paignton to Kingswear provides another worthwhile scenic possibility.
But however you arrive in Dartmouth, there is much to see. There are also a number of events throughout the year, appealing to many different interests.
For example, the Dart Music Festival is a free, three-day event in May catering for all music lovers while, in July, Dartmouth Castle is lit up with outdoor performances during Shakespeare Week.
In August, the Dartmouth Royal Regatta is a week of sailing, fireworks and family fun involving the whole town. That same month also sees Woofstock, a dog-friendly day celebrating all things canine.
In October, local artists take centre stage with the Galleries week seeing their doors and studios open to visitors.
October also sees the Dartmouth Food Festival, where local producers and chefs showcase their talents and offerings with stalls, demonstrations and events.
Finally, at the end of November and/or the beginning of December each year, the town plays host to Candlelit Dartmouth, featuring the arrival of Santa by boat, a lantern procession, Christmas markets, music, entertainment and late night shopping.
There’s more, of course, and details are to be found in the Listings.
Prior to the arrival of the Normans in the latter half of the eleventh century Dartmouth was no more than a small agricultural settlement beside the Dart. But its potential and strategic importance as a deep-water port for sailing vessels was soon realised, with Dartmouth being used as the sailing point for the Crusades of both 1147 and 1190.
The town was now a thriving trading and fishing port, capable of harbouring up to 600 vessels and, by 1327, when Edward III ascended the throne, the town was also home to the Royal Navy as well as being a centre for both piracy and privateering.
Sacked twice during the Hundred Years War, in 1388 Richard II instructed John Hawley, a privateer and the then mayor of Dartmouth, to raise such funds as were necessary to construct a small fort to defend the harbour. The mouth of the Dart estuary was also closed every night with a great chain.
In subsequent years the small fort, Dartmouth Castle, was significantly enlarged and a second fortification to protect both town and harbour, Kingswear Castle, built on the opposite bank of the river.
In 1588, in response to the threat from the Spanish Armada, Dartmouth despatched 11 ships to join the English fleet and captured the Spanish flagship, the Nestra Señora del Rosario. Anchored in the Dart for over a year, the Spanish crew worked as slaves at Greenway House, then home to Sir Walter Raleigh and his step-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who in 1583 sailed to Newfoundland.
For the next two centuries 24 ships would set out each spring from Dartmouth, collect salt from the Bay of Biscay, and then sail for the Newfoundland shores. Once there, 16 of the boats would fish for cod while the other eight would use salt to prepare the catch and, as a by-product, collect oil for lamps and soaps from the livers of the fish. Returning, the ships would first sail to the Mediterranean or Caribbean, where fish products could be exchanged for sugar, fruit and wine, before arriving back in port to sell their cargoes.
In later years, Greenway House was to be home to Agatha Christie.
In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers put in to Dartmouth, mooring at Bayard’s Cove, en route from Southampton to America.
During the English Civil War Dartmouth supported Parliament, but was captured and held for three years by the Royalists, before finally being recaptured by Fairfax for Parliament in 1646.
Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 the Newfoundland trade declined and Dartmouth suffered a slump. Fortunately, in 1863, the Royal Navy chose to train naval cadets on the Dart in two old sailing ships, providing a boost to the economy, with the ships being replaced in 1905 with the construction of what is now the Britannia Royal Naval College.
Dartmouth is home to many historic buildings and places of interest. These are just a few.
Britannia Royal Naval College is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the British Royal Navy. Located on a hill overlooking the port, guided public and private tours are available throughout the year.
For over 600 years Dartmouth Castle has guarded the narrow entrance to the Dart Estuary and the busy port of Dartmouth. Now the property of English Heritage it is open to the public, although a charge for admission is made.
Occupying a terrace cut from the rocky river bank, Bayard’s Cove Fort was built by the borough of Dartmouth between 1522 and 1536 to house heavy guns to protect the prosperous harbour town from attack.
Consecrated in 1372, St Saviour’s Church houses the tomb of John Hawley.
Built between 1635 and 1640, the Butterwalk is an important example of a Tudor building with its intricately carved wooden fascia supported on granite columns.
Dartmouth Museum is a small museum housed in an old merchant's house, built in approximately 1640, which displays and chronicles the history of the town.
The Newcomen Engine House is home to the world’s oldest surviving steam engine, built by the Dartmouth ironmonger Thomas Newcomen around 1720, an invention that revolutionised mining and led eventually to the Industrial Revolution.
