Vixen Tor

The tor lies between Tavistock and Princetown on Dartmoor. There is a car park to the south of the B3357 road midway between Two Bridges and Tavistock. The tor is 0.5 mi away. The tor rises 120 ft from the moor. The peak is 300 m above sea level. It is a granite mass that appears to be made from rocks piled up on each other. The tor is the highest free-standing rock on Dartmoor. From some angles it is said to resemble the Sphinx. Others say it is a vixen and yet others say it looks like an old man with a cap on his head and his back to his wife. 27 rock climbing routes have been identified, but climbing, like walking, is banned.

The land containing the tor has been owned privately since around 1970. A new owner bought 360 acre of land around the tor in 2003, and at once closed all access to the landmark. She explained that her insurance company had told her she could be liable if walkers or climbers injured themselves on the tor. The Ramblers Association and British Mountaineering Council launched a campaign to publicise the issue, including a "mass trespass" of 20 people on 1 January 2004. A court found in June 2004 that the owner had made changes to unimproved grassland without obtaining permission, and fined the owner. A public inquiry found in January 2005 that the land was in fact farmland, and the court…