Childe's Tomb - Destruction

Destruction

In the early 19th century there was much interest in enclosing and "improving" the open moorland on Dartmoor, encouraged by Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt's early successes at Tor Royal near Princetown. Enclosure was aided by the greatly enhanced access provided by the construction of the first turnpike roads over the moor: the road between Ashburton and Two Bridges opened in around 1800, for instance. In February 1809 one Thomas Windeatt, from Bridgetown, Totnes, took over the lease of a plot of land (a "newtake") of about 582 acres in the valley of the River Swincombe. In 1812 Windeatt started to build a farmhouse, Fox Tor Farm, on his land and his workmen robbed the nearby Childe's Tomb of most of its stones for the building and its doorsteps.

In 1902 William Crossing wrote that he had been told by an old moorman that some of the granite blocks from the tomb's pedestal had also been used to make a clapper bridge across a stream flowing into the River Swincombe near the farm. The moorman also said that they had lettering on their undersides. This encouraged Crossing to arrange to lift the clapper bridge, but no inscription was found. However he did locate nine out of the twelve stones that had made up the pedestal, as well as the broken socket stone for the cross.