Fox Tor
| Fox Tor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 438 m (1,437 ft) |
| Prominence | 4 m |
| Listing | (none) |
| Geography | |
 | |
| Location | Dartmoor, England |
| OS grid | SX626698 |
| Topo map | OS Landranger 202 |
Fox Tor is a relatively minor tor on Dartmoor in the county of Devon, England.[1]
On the flank of the tor, about 500 m to the north stands Childe's Tomb - according to local legend, the last resting place of Childe the Hunter, an unfortunate traveller who died there during a blizzard.[2]
About 800 m. NNE of the tor lie the remains of Foxtor Farm, which was used by Eden Phillpotts as one of the main settings of his 1904 novel The American Prisoner,[1] and in a subsequent early "talkie" film, made in 1929.
Occupancy of Fox Tor farm lasted for fifty years, and various people tried grazing sheep on the land in short stays from 1807 to the 1880s.[3]
Little Fox Tor, also known as Yonder Tor lies about 500 m. to the east.[1]
About a kilometre north-east of the tor lies the swampy land or mire known as Fox Tor Mires. This is said to have been the inspiration for the fictional Grimpen Mire in the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.[4] This wide expanse of peat bog continues to be dangerous to walkers, especially after heavy rain.[5]
There is another Fox Tor on Dartmoor, one of five outcrops on the western bank of the River Tavy in woodland north of Peter Tavy, at grid reference SX514788.[1] There is another on Bodmin Moor near Lewannick.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Bound, Terry (1995). The A to Z of Dartmoor Tors (revised ed.). Exeter, Devon: Obelisk Publications. p. 33. ISBN 1-899073-27-2.
- ^ Crossing, William (1902). The Ancient Stone Crosses of Dartmoor and its Borderland. Exeter: James G. Commin. pp. 88–97.
- ^ Sandles, Tim (19 April 2019). "Fox Tor Farm". Legendary Dartmoor. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
- ^ Hinson, Tamara (31 October 2015). "Bogs, fogs and dogs: a tour of Conan Doyle's Dartmoor". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
- ^ Sandles, Tim (20 March 2016). "Fox Tor Mires". Legendary Dartmoor. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
Further reading
[edit]- A comprehensive history of Fox Tor Farm and its tenants is included in: Stanbrook, Elisabeth (1994). "Fox Tor Farm". Dartmoor Forest Farms - A Social History from Enclosure to Abandonment. Tiverton: Devon Books. pp. 42–52. ISBN 0-86114-887-8.