River Dart

The River Dart is a river in Devon, England which rises high on Dartmoor, and releases to the sea at Dartmouth.WatercourseThe river's name is presumed to be Brythonic Celtic meaning 'river where oak trees grow' due to the banks of the lower Dart being covered in ancient woods of native oak Bray notes in 1832 that the name was occasionally spelled 'Darant'.The river begins as two separate branches (the East Dart and West Dart), which join at Dartmeet. The paths along these rivers offer very attractive walking, and there are several small waterfalls. The rivers are crossed by a number of clapper bridges, notably at the hamlet of Postbridge.After leaving the moor, the Dart flows southwards past Buckfast Abbey and through the towns of Buckfastleigh, Dartington and Totnes. At Totnes, where there is a seventeenth-century weir (rebuilt in the 1960s), it becomes tidal, and there are no bridges below the town.