Childe's Tomb, Fox Tor Mire

Childe's Tomb looking east towards Ter Hill

One of Dartmoor's more famous monuments, the original structure was demolished in 1812, much of the stone being recycled into the now-ruined Fox Tor Farm. The site of the tomb was almost forgotten until the 1870s when it was rediscovered by the great Dartmoor writer, William Crossing. Crossing also managed to identify much of the original stonework scattered throughout the vicinity but, unfortunately, and much to Crossing's fury, this material wasn't incorporated into the new monument when it was reconstructed by the Dartmoor Preservation Association in 1890. Crossing scornfully, but perhaps unfairly, declared: "it would have been far better had it been left untouched".

Childe's Tomb looking north across Fox Tor Mire towards the disused mine at Whiteworks

The monument is first recorded c.1630 by Tristram Risdon is his 'Survey of the County of Devon' where it's cited as being one of "three remarkable things" to be found on the moor. Risdon also relates the now-familiar legend of Childe the Hunter who, having been caught on the moor during a violent and prolonged snowstorm, died on this spot thus igniting a race between Tavistock and Plymstock to see who could claim the body and thus inherit Childe's estate [Tavistock won]. The cross must've formed part of the sequence of ancient crosses that spanned the moor from east to west and marked the course of the monastic route between the abbeys of Buckfast and Buckland.

Prior to its demolition, the monument consisted of a pedestal formed by three steps on top of which an octagonal block acted as the socket hole for the stone cross. The 'tomb' itself, which still survives, has the appearance of a prehistoric kistvaen, the entire structure being surrounded by a ring of small slabs. The ancient cross was reportedly seen in 1825 lying by the tomb with its shaft broken. Crossing found the head of a cross in a corner of the farm's enclosures in 1881 and surmised that it was the original cross from Childe's Tomb. Unfortunately this has since disappeared and the current cross and base were carved at the time of the monument's reconstruction.

The now-empty kistvaen excavated by Crossing at the end of the 19th century

Despite its chequered past and the many questions surrounding the veracity of the Childe story, Childe's Tomb remains a deeply impressive feature of the moor, partly a consequence of its spectacular location overlooking the vast expanse of Fox Tor Mire.

The tomb just visible on the edge of Fox Tor Mire as a small dark dot within the rectangle, right, as seen from near Fox Tor

Access: Moderate. In anything but dry weather it's probably best to park at one of the small lay-bys on the Whiteworks/Princetown road. Then follow the Devonport Leat along the contours of the hill until the very long newtake wall is reached to the south of the mire. Childe's Tomb is easily reached by following the wall. The infamous mire itself can be crossed and there's a bridleway marked on the OS map but, in the winter at least, it's very indistinct and the ground is predictably wet.

Source: 'The Ancient Stone Crosses of Dartmoor', William Crossing, 1902