Bellever

{{Short description|Hamlet in Devon, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Use British English|date=June 2025}}

{{Infobox UK place

|country = England

|static_image= File:BelleverYHA.jpg

|static_image_caption= Bellever Youth Hostel

|coordinates = {{coord|50.581|-03.901|display=inline,title}}

|official_name= Bellever

|population =

|shire_district= West Devon

|shire_county= Devon

|region= South West England

|constituency_westminster= Torridge and West Devon

|post_town= YELVERTON

|postcode_district = PL20

|postcode_area= PL

|dial_code= 01822

|os_grid_reference= SX6577

}}

Bellever is a hamlet in Dartmoor, Devon, England. It is located on the river East Dart about {{convert|2|km|mi|0}} south of Postbridge.

The first mention of a settlement at this location is in a Duchy of Cornwall record from 1355 which gives the name of a farm here as Welford, a contraction of wielle (spring) and ford.{{cite book

|last1= Gover|first1= John

|last2= Mawer|first2= Allan

|last3= Stenton|first3= Sir Frank Merry

|title= Place-names of Devon|series= English Place-Name Society

|publisher= Cambridge University Press|year=1932|volume =8

|page=192

}} However, in his High Dartmoor (1983), Eric Hemery proposed that the name comes from bal (mine) and ford, meaning the mine by the ford.{{cite book

|last= Hemery|first= Eric

|title=High Dartmoor: Land and People

|date=March 1983

|publisher=Robert Hale|isbn=0-7091-8859-5

|page=486}}

File:RiverEastDart.jpg

Until the period after World War II the hamlet consisted of Bellever Farm (owned by the Duchy of Cornwall) and its outbuildings, with a small number of cottages for the farm workers. The farm gained a reputation for the introduction of Galloway and Aberdeen Angus cattle onto Dartmoor.{{cite web

|url=http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/bell_bull.htm

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017003335/http://legendarydartmoor.co.uk/bell_bull.htm

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=2007-10-17

|title=The Bellever Bulls

|accessdate=2009-04-13

}} However, in 1931 the Forestry Commission, now Forestry England bought the farm and began a large planting scheme here; several houses were built in the 1950s to house the forestry workers.{{cite web

|url=http://www.virtuallydartmoor.org.uk/postbridge/transcripts/Bellever_Forest/audio01_pete_intro.pdf

|title=Introduction to Bellever Forest

|accessdate=2009-04-13

}} The coniferous plantation known as Bellever Forest surrounds the hamlet on its north, west and south sides.

In 1934 some of the barns of Bellever Farm were let to Youth Hostels Association (England & Wales) and now form the oldest, still functioning youth hostel in Devon.{{cite book

|last1=Maurice-Jones|first1=Helen

|last2=Porter|first2=Lindsey

|title=The Spirit of YHA

|year=2008|publisher=YHA

|page=149}}

As of 2019 the hamlet is served by a daily bus service that runs between Yelverton, Princetown, Postbridge and Tavistock.{{cite web |url=https://bustimes.org/services/98-tavistock-yelverton |title=98 - Tavistock - Yelverton|publisher=Bus Times |accessdate=3 December 2019}} During the summer Forestry England run a small visitor centre by the East Dart river.{{cite web|title=Bellever and Postbridge Trails|url=http://www.moorthanmeetstheeye.org/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/575545/PB1-Bellever-and-Postbridge-Trails.pdf|publisher=Moor than meets the eye|accessdate=3 July 2016}}

Bellever Tor lies {{convert|1.5|km|mi|0}} to the southwest.