Lying on the northern side of Dartmoor, the western boundary of the parish is mostly formed by the East Okement River and the eastern by the River Taw. The village lies at around 300m (990 feet) above sea level with its highest point being Belstone Tor in the south, at 460m (1,508 feet).[1] The village is central in its parish, surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Sticklepath, South Tawton, Dartmoor Forest and Okehampton Hamlets.[2] It is only accessible by minor roads from the A30 road, east of the town of Okehampton, which is about three miles to the north-west. In 2001 its population was 257, relatively unchanged from the 1901 figure of 236.[1]
The village was recorded as Bellestam in the 11th century Domesday Book. The parish church, dedicated to St. Mary, dates from the 13th century and has priests recorded from 1260.[1][4]
In the 19th century, copper was worked on the moor at Taw River mine which closed in 1892, and at Greenhill in the north-east.[1]
