Crazywell Pool
Wild swim Devon, England
About Crazywell Pool
Dartmoor has no natural lakes, which makes Crazywell Pool — a flooded tin mine shaft or reservoir, probably worked sometime in the medieval period — all the more striking when it suddenly appears on the open moor. At around 100 metres long and 3,500 square metres in surface area, it's considerably bigger than it looks on a map and more than large enough to swim lengths. The water is kept at a fairly constant level by a hidden spring and subterranean drainage, and sits in a shallow bowl of moorland about 3 km south of Princetown, invisible until you're almost on the edge of it. The surrounding landscape is classic high Dartmoor — rough grass, boggy ground, wide skies. Locals once believed the pool to be bottomless, and legend held that its surface would reflect the face of the next parishioner of Walkhampton to die. Nearby Crazywell Cross marks an old monastic route between Buckfast and Tavistock abbeys, worth a look on the way. Summer is the most practical time to swim, though the water stays cold year-round by most standards.
Location & details
- Category
- Wild swim
- Region
- Devon, England, United Kingdom
- Coordinates
- 50.51672, -4.00116
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