William Crossing

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William Crossing (1847 - 1928) was a writer and documenter of Dartmoor and Dartmoor life. He lived at Brent Tor and at Mary Tavy.

He was born in Plymouth, November 14, 1847. From his earliest youth he was fond of Dartmoor, his early associations centring around the neighbourhood of Sheepstor, Walkhampton, Meavy, and Yannadon.

He acquired a taste for antiquities from his mother. Later on, Crossing explored Tavistock, Coryton, Lydford, Okehampton, and the northern borders of the Moor, as well as South Brent, on its southern verge.

After leaving school at Plymouth, he went to the Independent College at Taunton, and then returned to finish his education at the Mannamead School.

His earliest literary efforts were in the direction of fiction - 'thrilling romances,' composed for the delectation of his school-fellows. His first essay in poetry was at the age of fourteen, when a poem written by him appeared in the pages of Young England, December, 1861.

In 1863 he went for a short coastal voyage to Wales, and gained a liking for the sea; and in 1864 he joined a vessel bound for Canada, and had a narrow escape, nearly being crushed by an iceberg during the night. Returning from this voyage, he took to business pursuits in Plymouth, and then recommenced his Dartmoor explorations.

In 1872 he married and settled down at Brent. In the previous year he began making notes about his rambles, without, however, any systematic arrangement; after his marriage he seems to have become more methodical, and to have decided to write a book descriptive of the moorland district.

He is now considered one of the best authorities on Dartmoor and its antiquities, having made it the subject of his life's work. He was one of the earliest members of the Dartmoor Preservation Association, joining it immediately on its formation.

It is quite probable that he effectively started the popularity of the modern pursuit of letterboxing. In his book Guide to Dartmoor he refers to what is likely to have been the first letter box. It was placed at Cranmere Pool on northern Dartmoor by a local guide in 1854. In Crossing's memory in 1938 a plaque and letterbox were placed at Duck's Pool on the southern moor by some individuals and members of a walking club known as Dobson's Moormen.

The style of Crossing's work in Guide to Dartmoor has similarities to the much more recent work of Alfred Wainwright. The hand drawn sketches of views and rough maps of walks together with the descriptive nature of the walks are like those of the Wainwright guides to the Lake District (see Lakeland Guides).

[edit] Books

Leaves from Sherwood, etc.; original poems; Plymouth, 1868

The Ancient Crosses of Dartmoor; with a Description of their Surroundings; Exeter, 1884. (An expansion of a series of articles which originally appeared in the Western Antiquary.)

Amid Devonia's Alps;or, Wanderings and Adventures on Dartmoor; Plymouth, 1888

Tales of the Dartmoor Pixies : Glimpses of Elfin Haunts and Antics; 1890

The Land of Stream and Tor; Plymouth, 1891. (for private circulation)

Crockern Tor and the Ancient Stannary Parliament; Exeter, 1892

The Chronicles of Crazy Well; Plymouth, 1893

The Ocean Trail; Plymouth, 1894

Widey Court; Plymouth, 1895

A Hundred Years on Dartmoor; Plymouth 1901

Old Stone Crosses of the Dartmoor Borders; Plymouth, 1902

The Western Gate of Dartmoor: Tavistock and its Surroundings; London, 1903

Gems in a Granite Setting; Plymouth, 1905

From a Dartmoor Cot; London, 1906

Crossing's Guide to Dartmoor; Plymouth, 1909

Folk Rhymes of Devon; London & Exeter 1911

Cranmere: The Legendary Story of Binjie Gear and other Poems; London & Plymouth 1926

The Dartmoor Worker; Newton Abbot, 1966(from a series of articles written for the Western Morning News in 1903 but published in book form after his death)

Dartmoor's Early Historic and Medieval Remains