The Devonport Leat

Back in the 1500 the Plymouth suburb of Devonport was a separate town and when in 1590 Sir Francis Drake built a leat carrying water from Dartmoor to Plymouth, the citizens of Plymouth objected to the those living in Devonport sharing it.
Therefore in 1790 a leat was constructed to provide water to Devonport Its main take off point was from the West Dart River near Whistmans Wood with other water taken fron the Cowsic and Blackwater. Although the leat originally ran right into Devonport, today it empties into Burratpr Reservoir

It was constructed so well that in its 12 miles it only drops so0me 200 metres and passes through a 500 metre tunnel and drops 40 metres down a waterfall and still provides some 3000000 gallons of water a day.

One of our favorite walks is to follow the course of the leat back upstream from Burrator, onto the moor. The walk leads up through Burrator Forest and can be a quick way to gain the open moorland. Today though, Mrs M and I are only going as far as the moor gate and returning. Jinxy favors the "Per Mare" route! (In the leat)