View source for Fox Tor

{{Short description|Granite tor on Dartmoor in Devon, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Fox Tor
| photo = Fox Tor.jpg
| photo_caption = 
| elevation_m = 438
| elevation_ref = 
| prominence = 4 m
| listing = ''(none)''
| location = [[Dartmoor]], England
| range = 
| coordinates = 
| grid_ref_UK = SX626698
| topo = [[Ordnance Survey|OS]] ''Landranger'' 202
| first_ascent = 
| easiest_route = 
}}

'''Fox Tor''' is a relatively minor [[Tor (geography)|tor]] on [[Dartmoor]] in the county of [[Devon]], England.<ref name=AZ>{{cite book
| last=Bound| first=Terry
| title=The A to Z of Dartmoor Tors
| publisher=Obelisk Publications| location=Exeter, Devon
| year=1995| edition=revised
| page=33| isbn=1-899073-27-2}}</ref>

On the flank of the tor, about 500&nbsp;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.<ref>{{cite book
|last=Crossing
|first=William
|author-link=William Crossing
|title=The Ancient Stone Crosses of Dartmoor and its Borderland
|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientstonecro00crosgoog
|year=1902
|publisher=James G. Commin
|location=Exeter
|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ancientstonecro00crosgoog/page/n118 88]–97}}</ref>

About 800&nbsp;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]]'',<ref name=AZ /> and in a subsequent early "[[sound film|talkie]]" [[The American Prisoner (film)|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.<ref name=Sandles2019>{{cite web |url=https://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/fox-tor-farm.htm |title=Fox Tor Farm |date=19 April 2019 |first=Tim |last=Sandles |work=Legendary Dartmoor |access-date=9 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707173417/https://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/fox-tor-farm.htm |archive-date=2022-07-07}}</ref>

Little Fox Tor, also known as Yonder Tor lies about 500&nbsp;m. to the east.<ref name=AZ />

About a kilometre north-east of the tor lies the [[Swamp| swampy]] land or [[Peatland| 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]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Hinson |first=Tamara |date=October 31, 2015 |title=Bogs, fogs and dogs: a tour of Conan Doyle’s Dartmoor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/oct/31/dartmoor-devon-hound-of-baskervilles-tour-halloween |publisher=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=13 October 2017}}</ref> This wide expanse of [[peat]] bog continues to be dangerous to walkers, especially after heavy rain.<ref name=Sandles2016>{{cite web |title=Fox Tor Mires |url=https://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/grim_mire.htm |date=20 March 2016 |first=Tim |last=Sandles |work=Legendary Dartmoor |access-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818013518/https://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/grim_mire.htm |archive-date=2022-08-18}}</ref>

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.<ref name=AZ /> There is another on Bodmin Moor near [[Lewannick]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* A comprehensive history of Fox Tor Farm and its tenants is included in: {{cite book
|last=Stanbrook|first=Elisabeth
|title=Dartmoor Forest Farms - A Social History from Enclosure to Abandonment
|year=1994|publisher=Devon Books|location=Tiverton
|isbn=0-86114-887-8|pages=42–52|chapter=Fox Tor Farm}}

{{coord|50.51182|-3.93922|type:landmark_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SX626698)|display=title}}

[[Category:Tors of Dartmoor]]