The River Meavy is a river in the southwest part of Dartmoor in Devon in south-west England. It runs entirely in the national park and connects Burrator Reservoir to the River Plym.
The river is 15.9 kilometres (9.9 mi) long, and flows in a generally south-westerly direction throughout its course. It rises at Meavy Head, close to Princetown, and flows across Walkhampton Common, through Norsworthy and adjacent plantations, and into Burrator Reservoir. It leaves the reservoir at the main dam, and flows past the village of Meavy before joining the River Plym at the upper end of Bickleigh Vale. The entirety of the river is inside Dartmoor National Park.
Most of the valley surrounding the river's southern section is wooded, and has been described as a semi-neutral ancient woodland. The north section, beyond Burrator Reservoir, is less covered as it is towards the centre of Dartmoor and features several rock tors near the river.
The river is believed to named after an Old English word, meaning "lively stream". The village of Meavy is in turn named after the river.
Drake's Leat was a watercourse constructed in the 16th century to transport drinking water from the River Meavy towards Plymouth. Burrator Lodge was built in 1896 for the reservoir owner. It is now a Grade II listed building. In 2015, the property was put on the market.
The river is popular for canoeing south of Burrator Reservoir, and is considered an easier course than the upper sections of the River Plym, which are some of the most challenging in Dartmoor. Despite the presence of the damn at Burrator, there is generally a sufficient flow of water.
Higher Jurston
Teigncombe
EnsworthyChagford Hurston Colliholc Venn
Willandhcad Jurston
Higher Jurston Dartmoor
Of some 650 round barrows (nearly all cairns) at least 130 of the smaller ones, mostly in low-lying situations near rivers and streams, have a central stone cist exposed. These cists are mostly large enough to have contained a contracted interment but unburnt bones do not survive in the acid soil of Dartmoor. Four of these cists have yielded beakers and another three have yielded other grave-goods normally found with inhumations. About six others have yielded cremations assumed Early Bronze Age. Of some 580 small cairns about 130 have retaining circles or kerbs, and at least 57 have a stone row proceeding from the cairn downhill, usually following the line of minimum slope. Dartmoor is the classic area for small cairns with retaining circles and stone rows. Many of them, however, are extremely difficult to find unless one is armed with a large-scale map, a compass and plenty of time.
Apart from the fine cist north of Fernworthy reservoir (fig. 27) and one or two other notable sites, the more interesting cairns are on the ‘low’ moor south of the road between Tavistock and Moretonhampstead. The largest concentration of cisted cairns is around the Drizzlecombe valley in the Ditsworthy Warren and Plym Steps area, but this is difficult to reach and one has to walk a long way. A more accessible group is on Lakehead hill in the midst of Believer Forest, where the Forestry Commission has made clearances around the cairns. The best known and most often illustrated site here, a cairn with ‘above ground’ cist and retaining circle and stone row, is a conjectural restoration of the late nineteenth century.
Of the large cairns crowning many of the hills, several incorporate tors or smaller outcrops. Amongst the largest are the Three Barrows although they have been plundered for stone for centuries. The linear group on Hamel Down includes Two Barrows, the northern of which yielded in 1877 a cremation accompanied by a grooved bronze dagger and an amber pommel with gold pointille decoration (destroyed by enemy action on Plymouth in 1941).