Magical December Walk on Buckland Beacon

What a gorgeous morning on 22nd December 2025 — a low winter sun sparkling over Dartmoor, footpaths turned into channels to scramble, dodging wet patches and a picture-postcard scene in every bramble-skirted step. Buckland Beacon was absolutely breathtaking in the cold sunshine, and the views over the Webburn valley reminded me why this corner of Devon feels so special.

At the top of the beacon we came upon the Ten Commandments Stones — two big granite “tablets” carved right into the moorland rock. They weren't some prehistoric monument, nor the originals transported from Mount Sinai ....   these were actually carved in 1928 by a stonemason named W.A   Clements (who incidentally earned the nickname Moses) commissioned by the then Lord of Buckland Manor, William Whitley.

William wasn’t commemorating a battlefield, but rather celebrating something very particular: in the late 1920s Parliament rejected a proposed revision of the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer, which would have replaced the traditional Ten Commandments with just Jesus’ Two Great Commandments. William was a devout Protestant and was so delighted by the outcome that he had the full Ten Commandments engraved in stone on the tor — complete with the parliamentary vote dates and even a little extra inscription from John 13:34 (“A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another”), added when there was space left over.

It’s such a vast and thought-provoking monument to stumble across in the wild — rather quirky but very moody, exposed as it is to the moor’s harsh gales and hammering rain that have worn the letters over the years. Recent  restoration work has brought them back into crisp focus, telling a deeply human story on the landscape itself.

We ventured down to the village, awestruck by the relentless beauty of  Dartmoor - ponies running wild,  paths turning into streams from the moorland run-off and the positioning of spiney tendrils of oak, alder and hawthorn as they clawed at the low sun.  Sometimes they took on full horror mode as they silhouetted across the path; other times, an enchanted forest where no one would raise a flybrow should you discover a wardrobe full of fur coats...

In the village lies St Peter’s Church, a quietly beautiful parish church dating back centuries with a Norman font and old rood screen.  The screen was subject to a victorian renovation by Ethel Pinwill, one of the Pinwell sisters of Ermington. She was a notable carver and restorer whose work blended new carving with the surviving medieval tracery on this particular rood screen.  This restoration reinstated the missing upper structure where the medieval rood loft once stood, returning the screen to its original height and balance. 

One feature really captured my imagination: the unusual clock on the tower that doesn’t have numbers — instead it spells out “MY DEAR MOTHER” around the face, a heartfelt memorial that William Whitley gifted to the church after his own mother’s passing in the early 1930s. Every quarter hour it chimes the hymn “All Things Bright and Beautiful.”

In the churchyard are the gravestones of the Whitley family, all bearing their family motto: “Live to Live.” It’s such a moving phrase — reminding you that life is to be lived joyfully and well, but also with generosity and giving back to others - as they all did and some of their stories are here. I might have to adopt this mantra myself.

The Whitleys weren’t just local landowners — they were a family with quite a legacy.

Herbert Whitley, William’s brother, went on to found what became Paignton Zoo, now one of Devon’s best-loved wildlife places. His passion for animal breeding and the natural world began right there on the family estate before becoming a public zoological garden in the 1920s. Another brother, Charles Whitley, sadly died in World War I in 1917 and had been awarded the Military Cross for gallantry — a sobering thread woven through the sunshine on the moor that day.

Captain Edward Whitley of the British Royal Army Medical Corps, was mortally wounded in June 1944 while providing medical aid to an enemy German soldier near Pegasus Bridge, Normandy, France.  This was particularly cruel as there was no consideration for his commitment to the hippocratic oath in that moment on the battlefield.

There were later family members lost in WWII too, and the churchyard carries their memory alongside the motto Live to Live — a tribute that feels especially poignant against the serene backdrop of Dartmoor hills.

With a Christmas feast courtesy of Thermos, complete with heated seats and the finest company, today was the best walk of the year...  but I keep saying this and somehow they just get better and better!  It really was one of those days where everything was aligned — cold sunshine, ancient stones, rolling moorland views, and the gentle reminder that history isn’t just facts: it’s people’s real hopes, beliefs, joys, and losses carved into the place you’re walking.

If you haven’t yet wandered down to St Peter’s or scrambled around Buckland Beacon’s rocks, add it to your must-visit list ... and don't forget your wellies.