Geography
The
Parish lies about 8 miles north-east of Plymouth, on the
southwest slopes of Dartmoor. There are no major roads through
the Parish, and only two through routes; running northwest
to southeast the road from Bickleigh to Cornwood and Ivybridge
passes through the three major settlements of Shaugh Prior,
Wotter and Lee Moor, and the road from Plympton to Yelverton
and Meavy passes north-south through the Parish. Much of
the north of the Parish is open moorland, crossed by streams
between Dartmoor tors. In former times this area was the
scene of mining and quarrying - now it offers outdoor activities
and sheep, cattle and Dartmoor pony grazing.
The
central part of the Parish is dominated by the China Clay
pits above Lee Moor and Wotter villages, and the China Clay
works in the valleys below. The barren white landscape of
spoil heaps and huge excavations dwarfs the massive machinery
used to extract the China Clay.
To
the south, a belt of farming and woodland isolates the Parish
from the commercial encroachment of Plymouth.
