Vixen Tor

Nearest town:
Tavistock (6km W)
OS reference:
SX542743
OS sheets:
191, 201
Latitude:
50° 32' 58.68 N
Longitude:
4° 3' 29.69 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Vixen Tor (Cist) by Rhiannon

From ‘A book of the West (v1)’ by S Baring-Gould (1899).

Image credit: ABL
Rhiannon
Rhiannon Dec 7, 2016
Image of Vixen Tor (Cist) by postman

The Tor is clearly Vixen shaped from this angle ???

Image credit: Chris Bickerton
postman
postman Mar 24, 2015
Image of Vixen Tor (Cist) by postman

There’s only one word for it.........Trespass.

Image credit: Chris Bickerton
postman
postman Mar 23, 2015
Image of Vixen Tor (Cist) by postman

Out of bounds Vixen tor as zoomed at from Merrivale stone rows etc.

Image credit: Chris Bickerton
postman
postman Mar 23, 2015
Image of Vixen Tor (Cist) by Lubin

The cairn/kist at SX540744 which is just outside the Vixen Tor Newtake so is still accessible.

Image credit: Peter Castle ©
Lubin
Lubin Mar 13, 2005
Image of Vixen Tor (Cist) by Lubin

The kist at Vixen Tor,which is now unfortunatly on private land but all being well will soon be open to the public again.

Image credit: Peter Castle ©
Lubin
Lubin Mar 13, 2005

Articles

Vixen Tor

Terror on the Tor

B
BrigantesNation Oct 21, 2005

By Mark Ford
09:30 – 20th October 2005

The spectre of occult practices in the West reared its head yesterday as
police investigated a second case of ritual sheep slaughter near an ancient
Pagan altar on an isolated moor.

Six sheep were found with their necks broken and their eyes removed on land
at Moortown near the edge of Dartmoor. Four of their bodies were arranged
in a regular square shape, another two were lying next to a pattern of stones.

In January, seven sheep were found just half-a-mile away in the same eerie
shadow of Vixen Tor. Again their necks were broken, and this time
chillingly arranged in the shape of a heptagram – a seven-pointed star
symbol, linked for centuries with the dark arts and Black Magic rituals.

Now, the Western Daily Press can reveal that police are connecting the
incidents with the presence of an ancient Pagan sacrificial altar, the
stone remains of which are located just to the east of the tor.

“Our understanding is that this place used to be some sort of meeting place
for Pagans,” said a spokesman for Devon and Cornwall police.

“To the east of Vixen Tor there is evidence of an ancient stone sacrificial
altar.

They added: “We are investigating this as a matter of criminal damage.

“People obviously have their right to practise their religion, but when
that involves damaging, or in this case killing, other people’s property,
it becomes a crime.” The dead sheep, worth £600, were still warm when they
were found by their owner, farmer Daniel Alford, on Sunday morning.
He has little doubt the shocking incident has its roots in Pagan ritual.

“You hear of all sorts of crazy stuff like that around Dartmoor, it’s that
sort of place, people believe in all sorts of strange things,” he said
yesterday.

“It is a bit unsettling knowing that someone has been creeping around up
there doing this, but there’s not a lot we can do, it’s such a vast area.

“There were the four sheep and then 10ft or 15ft away there were another
two, which were laid next to three stones which had been arranged in a
pattern,” he said.

“The stones looked like a kind a of gateway, a similar thing that had been
found in January.

“After talking to a few people we established that it was probably
something to do with Janus the Pagan god of January and the beginning of
the New Year and banishing evil spirits.

“What this one is about, I’ve no idea. It was a full moon.”

In this case, the eyes were completely removed from the sheep, and there
were no signs of the messy pecking that could attribute the loss to an
attack by birds.

Police confirmed the animals had their necks quickly broken and there were
no indications of a prolonged struggle or suffering.

It is thought at least two people would have to had to have been involved,
given the sheer physical strength needed for the killing and arranging of
the sheep.

Vixen Tor and the Alford family have gained notoriety recently in a
high-profile right-to-roam row with ramblers, walkers and climbers.

In 2003, the Alfords controversially ended 30 years of permitted access to
the tor on the grounds they could be held liable if there was an accident
on it.

Earlier this year, the decision was upheld by an inquiry inspector who
ruled against opening up the land under Countryside and Rights of Way
legislation.

Last month those demanding access to the tor and the land it stands on
mounted a peaceful protest on the Alfords’ land.

Yesterday Daniel Alford said he did not believe the clash over access was
in anyway connected to the disturbing finds.

“I really don’t think it is the sort of thing the Thermos flask brigade
would get involved in,” he said.

westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=146049&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145779&contentPK=13351104

Vixen Tor

postman
postman Mar 24, 2015

It’s now 2015 and there is still no access to Vixen Tor. It can of course be seen from the public access side of the wall, the cist too. But that was never going to be enough for me, the wall is easily got over, and with the land owners house far on the other side of the Tor we encountered no problems.
We scrambled around on the rocks for a bit, as young people do, then we plodded over to the cist and the nearby standing stone. This bit didn’t really interest the kids so they made their way back to the car whilst I studied the cist. I’m not too convinced about the standing stone, surely it would be marked on the map. But the cist is a nice little thing, full of and partially covered with earth it looks like it’s never been excavated. The capstone is in two pieces.
A very successful sneak.
No problem.

Vixen Tor

Mr Hamhead
Mr Hamhead Nov 9, 2006

The tor, and the area around it, is still very much closed off to the public...and will be for the foreseeable future as the owner is not prepared to budge on allowing access.

The tor itself can still be seen, and is a fine lump of rock which changes shape as you view it from different angles (as most things do!). Some say it looks like a witch’s head from one side and this ties in with the legend of Vixanna.

In the good old days I regularly climbed to the top, a tight squeeze up a gap in the middle of the tor. From the summit you could look out over the surrounding moorland , just like the witch used to do.

Vixen Tor

Lubin
Lubin Mar 13, 2005

The best of the two cairns in this area can no longer be reached as the local farmer has closed the newtake on advice from his solicitor.This how ever has been over turned by the courts and it should be accessible again in the near future.The other one is slightly north and just to the west of the newtake wall,fortunatly outside of it so can be reached.Both these are only800metres south of the B3357so are easily reached.

Sites within 20km of Vixen Tor

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