Wistman's Wood, Dartmoor: Grove of the Druids.

The best way to describe Wistman's Wood is that it resembles a moss-covered rock garden shrouded in contorted and grotesquely shaped overgrown Bonsai trees, which are also covered in moss. Situated almost in the centre of Dartmoor, in Devon, near a place named 'Two Bridges', a few miles east of Princetown. When we arrived in 'Two Bridges' the whole area was shrouded in thick fog, with visibility down to less than one hundred feet. As a consequence I had to film the intro scenes when we came back, as the sun had finally broke through. Wistman's Wood has to be reached on foot using a footpath, which starts off directly opposite the 'Two Bridges Hotel'. This path runs for almost two miles across the moors, which was quite an eerie experience in thick fog! Wistman's Wood is an enchanting place where, legend has it, the ancient Druids frequented. There are several prehistoric settlement sites in the vicinity. There are no footpaths inside Wistman's Wood so walking around entails scrambling over slippery moss-covered rocks and boulders, so sensible strong footwear is advised. There is also a small car park opposite the hotel where visitors can park.
Music licensed through Artlist.

[@downinthemuff]

Live quite near Wistmans wood, such an amazing place, has an atmosphere like nowhere else.

[@arcadia449]

I lived in Ashburton back in the early 1960's. Loved it around Dartmoor.

[@rayswoop4947]

God, what a magnificent blessing to be able to see this beautiful, enigmatic place in person....I'm from across the pond lol hope to see this magical place one day.

[@Sean2002FU]

​@@arcadia449 I know this is an old video, but I could not help myself....In 1992, I was a young Marine stationed at RAF St Mawgan. When we did our field exercises we often went to Dartmoor. What a beautiful and history laden place!! We were doing land navigation near Prince Town and we got lost on the moors. After many hours, we ( myself and another) came across a paved, yet narrow road ...we decided to go right. Lucky for us, it eventually led to Prince Town. There is a pub there in the main round about, we walked in with our weapons asking if we could use the phone...Everyone was looking at us like we were an alien species, quite funny looking back.... One of these years I'm going to fly back across the pond and spend a week or so in Dartmoor......The subject of this video is indeed a beautiful place, again ,swamped in history!! THANK YOU for this video, it brought back many memories! 😊

[@arcadia449]

@@Sean2002FU Thank you, Sean. When I was a kid I lived in Ashburton, just on the edge of Dartmoor.

[@alcatraz3539]

Fantastic filming of a truly fantastic place!

[@arcadia449]

Thank you.

[@weatherwitchandfelinefamiliars]

Absolutely glorious, thank you so much for filming this and doing it so magically as well ❤

[@lynniejenkins2079]

Many faery folk live here. Go carefully, silently and with respect.

[@luv2luv720]

What a beautiful walk! Thank you for sharing the web also. I Love Everything about nature. Would really enjoy to walk where the druids also did! Edit: I typed to soon! Wow! It is beautiful there. I definitely would've had my feet bare feeling the soft moss! I'm so glad I found your video! The music with it is perfect! Sorry about all the exclamation but it's Breathtakingly Beautiful

[@arcadia449]

If you ever go to Devon it's worth a visit.

[@clarehatcher760]

Lovely ! Thanks for posting. I feel like I've been there!

[@arcadia449]

Go there for real. It's amazing, but please don't climb over the rocks like some people do.

[@ChrisLonsdale67]

Went there on a school field trip in, I think, 1984. Still remember it vividly. Magical place.

[@arcadia449]

I lived in Ashburton, not far away, back in the 1960's.

[@MrSpoonage]

What a beautiful place. Absolutely breathtaking. We love Devon so much and makesure we take the kids there every year. Thank you for sharing, as this is now on our never ending list of things to do.

[@arcadia449]

It's well worth the walk to get there.

[@combatduckie]

what a beautiful scenery....

[@joyglasspool7493]

Lovely footage, beautifully edited.

[@arcadia449]

Thank you. Joy.

[@davidmorgan984]

So beautiful moss covered rocks, amazing video. Background music is so relaxing as usual. There is no commentary I miss your informative description in this video. Although it's a beautiful video, I like most the village videos as you uploaded earlier in Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. I'm waiting again another beautiful video of plane fields and villages. Keep entertaining.

[@arcadia449]

More coming up.

[@trashmammal4986]

it's so beautiful and eerie, one day i'll visit for sure!!

[@arcadia449]

The fog really added to the atmosphere that day.

[@T4TipsGuides]

An advert popping up 90 seconds in really added to mystical vibe. 😂

[@drealidia]

This is absolutely magical; thank you for this!

[@arcadia449]

It's well worth a visit.

[@drealidia]

It’s on my bucket list. I live in the US but England has always been my number one place to visit in my lifetime. Some day..

[@itchycooable]

Was there last wednesday , no mist though , there are signs asking people NOT to walk through the woods , but to walk around the edge (northern edge) , and that's what people were doing .

[@arcadia449]

It's a shame, but I hear that people were damaging the woods by being irresponsible?

[@itchycooable]

@@arcadia449 to preserve the rare mosses and lichens i think

[@lindadobson9854]

Wish I was there. No covid there!

[@arcadia449]

That's right. Not much down that part of the country.

[@viktoria7939]

Very mystical place

[@arcadia449]

It has a great atmosphere when it's misty.

[@Dainjamouth]

Nice

[@scorpio19771111]

Magick!

[@Wotsitorlabart]

'Legend has it the ancient Druids frequented Wistman's Wood'. Or probably not.

[@arcadia449]

I would imagine there were many places on Dartmoor frequented by Druids?

[@Wotsitorlabart]

​@@arcadia449 Supposedly. I doubt there's hardly a rock formation on Dartmoor that doesn't go by the name of 'Druids' this' or 'Druids' that'.

[@loudoret353]

This is a small woodland, and one of the last remnant wildwoods of Dartmoor. The last thing it needs is further visiting pressure. If you care about the impact you have on nature, then the kindest and most responsible thing is to remove this video.

[@Grandmastergav86]

Inspiration for the short story "Whisper In the Woods" an "anonymously penned" tale which some have attributed to Charles Dickens' son.

[@arcadia449]

That's interesting?

[@hell0hkitty]

Hauntingly beautiful! Where are the elves?

[@arcadia449]

Lost in the fog?

[@hell0hkitty]

@@arcadia449 lol

[@Meow_Zedong_1949]

They're shy.

[@OliverHollingdale]

we are doing a short film, is it far to walk to get to the woods say from a carpark?

[@arcadia449]

It's about 1 mile from the parking area.

[@nilkamalsarma5561]

feels like something from lord of the rings or hobbit

[@arcadia449]

It has that atmosphere about it.

[@water9584]

I've been there. It's magical. But my hike was a real one, through the dirt and not on roads. With no one around.

[@caysonreign2079]

I guess it's pretty randomly asking but does anybody know of a good site to stream newly released series online ?

[@larryalan3078]

@Cayson Reign i watch on Flixzone. Just search on google for it =)

[@ralphjagger3813]

@Larry Alan yup, been using flixzone for months myself :D

[@caysonreign2079]

@Larry Alan thanks, I went there and it seems to work :) I really appreciate it !

[@larryalan3078]

@Cayson Reign you are welcome =)

[@bazza12121]

A good place for a mushroom hunt too and from there. Not on the paths thought. Better cutting across country. Much more productive

[@arcadia449]

I've been mushroom hunting back here where I live in Hertfordshire. It's not a good year so far?

[@bazza12121]

@@arcadia449 no not here either.. I’ve had some chicken of the woods, some chanterelles… but none of the magical ones so far.. too early really though and too dry.. give it a week or two and after some rain and they will come up

[@SenorTucano]

Nice video but the music is too loud and overpowering

[@heidiclarke9994]

Please remove this video. Enough destruction and advertising of the wood has happened and caused untold damage. The wood has suffered and changed due to much heavier footfall in recent years. How does this video help or respect the wood?

[@Grandmastergav86]

Please remove this comment, how does grandstanding help anyone? Does your ego the world of good though, eh?

[@heidiclarke9994]

@@Grandmastergav86 it’s hardly grandstanding, it’s just a video on KZbin amongst millions and I’m not likely to win any favour or popularity here at all, for saying what I did. I believe that this video and the others on KZbin have had a direct impact on the known and very real damage to the wood. There’s a comment I just saw below saying something like ‘I’m definitely going to visit and walk where the Druid’s did, barefoot in the thick moss’. That thick moss has shrunk away very obviously in the last few years because going from maybe a few hundred visitors a year to thousands, in what is actually very small area, will take its toll. The hanging rare lichens of scientific interest that take many many years to form have been taken away, and some of them are extremely rare. I’ve seen photos of wheee someone has carved some kind of crappy ‘spiritual’ symbol on one rock by scraping off the ancient moss on one rock. Can’t you see the irony of that? Rather than assuming I’m grandstanding, how about considering that in terms of those who share videos like this, showing the world special and little known places on the planet, for their own kudos and hits, that will create much more human traffic and threaten their uniqueness. That’s the consequence whether intended or not.

[@mythtree6348]

@@heidiclarke9994 bless you sweetheart. There is now a book locating all such woodlands. i agree that it was better when the only people who found them were the intrepid type who researched for themselves but i guess the world moved on.. ive seen such wreckage in recent years but the hope is by putting them on he map we will conserve them :( sigh. i dont know :(

[@mythtree6348]

@@heidiclarke9994 how about people only get to visit these places if hey are actively involved in conserving and restoring them ?? thats kind of how i've lived ..

[@rog5963]

@@heidiclarke9994 Great comment. There are signs up around Wistman's Wood asking people not to walk through the trees due to the damage that has been caused. Clearly the people involved in this video took no notice of them....

[@juliagroom2027]

There are signs warning you not to go into this protected site. I don’t understand how anyone can wilfully destroy these remarkable places and encourage anyone else to copy them. Shame on you! There are plenty of surrounding rocks to sit on and contemplate this beautiful site. This is Dartmoor, not Disneyland.

[@arcadia449]

There were no signs?