Military training on Dartmoor began during the early 1800s with a marked increase during the Crimean War (1854-1856).
Artillery training started in 1875 on the Duchy of Cornwall's moorland south of Okehampton with a permanent camp being built 20 years later. Since then, the size of military land holdings on Dartmoor has varied according to need. With the beginning of the Second World War, in 1939, nearly all of Dartmoor's open country was used intensively for tactical exercises, many of which involved the use of live ammunition.
