Who owns ditsworthy warren house

Interior: inaccessible at time of survey. Robertson, J. Documentary research by Robertson suggests that settlement remains similar to the medieval settlements nearby at Gutter Tor and Whittenknowles Rocks PRN and may exist beneath the buildings of Ditsworthy Warren and although the first records of the farm date to , it may convincingly be earlier in date; similar to that of Gutter Tor, whose fields Ditsworthy appear to have used after the abandonment of Gutter Tor.

Fletcher, M. The structure is in good condition and in frequent use. Whitbourn, A. Ditsworthy Warren House of two storeys and built of granite with later alterations. The land is owned by Maristow Estates and the house is presently used as a military training base.

Exterior features are described but the interior was not accessible. Originally a two room dwelling and passage with later enlargements. It relates that Ditsworhty Warren House is an old rabbit warrener's house built in the 16th century. It is used by the military as a base camp giving basic accommodation for 23 personnel with a further personnel able to camp in the kennel field to the rear of the house. The article includes a sketch of the house and also states that 'recently young officers from Dartmouth have carried out drainage work to the track that leads to Ditsworthy Warren House'.

Newell, B. Ordnance Survey , , MasterMap Cartographic. Vermin Traps and Rabbit Warrens on Dartmoor. Post-Medieval Archaeology. The Archaeology of the Upper Plym. National Monuments Record Database. Historic Houses Register. A4 Comb Bound. High Dartmoor. Hardback Volume. The Moorland Plym. Transactions of the Devonshire Association. Ordnance Survey. Granite walls run round about, and the metropolis of the rabbits, with natural and artificial burrows, extends to the very confines of the building.

The entire landscape around Ditsworthy is studded with evidence that not only includes the warren features but also many prehistoric monuments dating back several thousands of years.

The whole area is a palimpsest that encompasses nearly every century and aspects of mans occupation thus providing a fantastic insight into the history of Dartmoor. It has been suggested that documentary evidence shows that warrening was taking place at Ditsworthy in but there is clear field evidence of 14th century cultivated strips and settlements prior to this date, Newman, , p.

The Tithe Map of shows that Ditsworthy Warren covered an area of acres and following the abandonment of the nearby Eylesborough mine in and the later amalgamation with Legis Tor Warren grew to over 1, acres, English Heritage Pastscape Record, , on-line source. Hemery details the extent of Ditsworthy Warren at the end of the nineteenth century as being, , p. The warren was then handed on to his son John Nicholls in , he was later succeeded by the Ware family when Nicholas Ware was the warrener in His son William then took over the warren sometime between and , Hemery, pp.

Having occupied Ditsworthy for years the Ware family finally closed down the warren in upon the death of Percy Ware. The farmhouse is now a grade II listed building, monument ID — With the exception of a single ash, bearing unmistakable signs of the buffetings it has recieved from the winter storms, there are no trees around this solitary dwelling, which is sheltered only by the rising ground behind it, and towards the west.

Despite the warren being remote, compared to some other Dartmoor farmsteads the access to it was and still is very good, hence Spielberg using it as a location.

At one time the track was marked with small heaps of stones placed at regular intervals along it. These were even whitewashed to aid visibility in times of the infamous Dartmoor mists, Crossing informs us that this work was carried out by one George Davis of Plymouth, Crossing, , p. It has been suggested that parts of the warren house standing today could possibly date back to the sixteenth century, Haynes, p.

You can see from the photographs below that originally there was a fairly large building attached to the left-hand side of the house which has now gone and all but some walls of the buildings on the right-hand side have also disappeared.

The photograph of the kitchen is typical of a Dartmoor farmhouse and note the rack of guns hanging on the wall over the fireplace. Ditsworthy Warren House. Plan of Ditsworthy Warren House. It is here that the earlier warreners built small cave-like structures into the walls in order to shelter their dogs. This arrangement apparently caused rheumatism problems with the dogs due to the porous nature of the growan.

All that remains of this today are the small supporting granite blocks that stand in the centre of the Kennel Court. Another interesting feature is the leat channel that supplied continuous running water to the warren which was taken from Elbow Gutter. This was where the rabbits were dressed and cleaned ready for market. There was another spring fed hollow which was located nearby which was used to keep the warreners cream cool and fresh.

There are three main landscape features associated with rabbit warrens; boundaries, rabbit buries and vermin traps all of which can be found at and around Ditsworthy.

Back in Haynes recorded a total of 14 existing vermin traps dotted around Ditsworthy, Haynes, , p. Grindstone Supports. Ditsworthy Outbuilding. A Dog Kennel. Ditsworthy Leat. Rabbit Bury I along with my friend Rhys Eynon visited Ditsworthy on the 12th of February which was a bitterly cold and Dartmoor crisp day and I must admit there was no sign that the place had been used as a central film location, everything had clearly been restored to its original condition.

It does appear that the media was correct when they suggested that it would be a popular place of pilgrimage to War Horse fans. There certainly were quite a few people in the area, some of whom seemed to be wandering about trying to find the place.

Below is a suggested route map that shows the way to Ditsworthy and also the extended version if you would like to do it of which I take no responsibility at all. Route Plan. February 20, Share on facebook Facebook. Share on twitter Twitter. Share on linkedin LinkedIn. Share on pinterest Pinterest. This website uses cookies to improve your experience.

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