Ruins of Longstone, the old manor house of the Elford family.

This photograph of a ruined wall Longstone was taken in 1914. Longstone was built in 1633 by Walter and Barbara Efford. It became a ruin as a consequence of the building of the Burrator Reservoir. The reservoir was first opened in 1898 but the dam heightened in 1926. When the Corporation of Plymouth purchased the entire Burrator watershed in 1916, active farming in the area was banned on grounds of hygiene. Without useful employment, the moormen could not live on the moor, so they left their homes to find employment elsewhere.