Bodmin Moor

Bodmin Moor, a wild area in the county of Cornwall, south-western England, noted for its ancient monuments and scenic beauty.

Like Dartmoor National Park nearby, Bodmin Moor is a wild granite outcrop which has been settled since prehistoric times but was remote from population centres until the development of modern transport. Standing stones, stone circles, and stone crosses indicate the presence of, first, Neolithic people and, later, a Celtic people who were converted to Christianity in about the 4th century and whose language and culture persist in local placenames, dialect, and customs.

Places of special interest on Bodmin Moor include the valley of the De Lank River; the twin heights of Rough Tor, 400 m (1,312 ft) high, and Brown Willy (or Bryn Whelli), the highest point in Cornwall at 420 m (1,378 ft); and Dozmary Pool, said to be the lake in which Excalibur, the sword of the legendary King Arthur, was thrown away. The town of Bodmin stands on the moor's edge.

The Jamaica Inn at Bolventor, which inspired Daphne du Maurier to write her novel Jamaica Inn (1936), was used by the smugglers for whom the moor was famous from the 17th century to the 19th. Since the 1980s Bodmin Moor has attracted attention again because of persistent rumours about the “Beast of Bodmin”, a large animal, perhaps a panther escaped from a zoo, which is said to attack farm animals. Sightings of several big cats have been reported.