Moor Poets and Contemporary Markmakers

Devon’s Moor Poets and the artists, Contemporary Markmakers, spent two years working together on Dartmoor. They laughed and picnicked together, were drenched by relentless rain and enjoyed many warm sunny days. They witnessed the birth of a foal, heard countless cuckoos, met wild campers, stood silently among ancient stones, granite circles and burial cairns, walked the lengths of double and triple stone rows and followed mediaeval leats (human-hewn water courses running along land contours).

They traced Bronze Age reave field systems on Holne Moor that demarcate some of the earliest enclosures of farmland in Europe; sat within the ruins of a 13th century farming village at the Hut Holes; heard about the challenges of traditional upland farming and the rewards of meadow rewilding; and watched many moorland birds leaving and returning.

As well as an exhibition of their work at the Dartmoor National Park Visitors’ Centre from 1st July to 29th September 2013, Oversteps has published this beautiful 120-page full-cover book of the poetry and art created during the project.

Oversteps publications

Unearthing Dartmoor (2023)

Sample poem: Quiet Green Fireworks on July 4