In 1850 Henry Spencer, a wealthy, if not foolish, victorian businessman came to Dartmoor by day and saw nothing but luscious woodland and flowing streams.
Bringing his workforce from London, Henry began to mine and plunder the many riches Dartmoor had to offer, unaware of the many dangers it possesed.
There was one who knew; an old respected shamen. He warned the businessman of the perils of the bogs and the invisible dark magic surrounding the tors.

One day, Henry sent seven miners to set to work on Longford tor, none returned.
The shamen warned the workers of their impending fate, but fueled by greed, they cast him aside and persisted unabated.

So the shamen cast a spell over the granite boulders which lined the tor, creating a monster to scare off Henry Spencer's workers and spare them their lives.

The shamen was not a rich man, but sacrificed the few sheep he had left to his creation. This fueled the creatures body and curbed its thirst for blood until the miners had left and he could return the monster to the granite from whence it came.

However, before the shamen could return the beast to rubble, the farmers found the beast beside the tor, jaws dripping with blood, lying upon a bed of sheep carcasses, which they believed were their own. They condemned the shamen to be burnt at stake for the loss of their livestock and the use of dark magic. They believed the monster would follow its master into the grave.

If you visit the tor today, you will find no sheep grazing, only bones. You may see the beasts head residing between the hard granite boulders, still waiting for the return of his master, now too weak and hungry to hunt by day.

However, if you are passing by after dark, prey that a sheep or shaman has passed too close and has taken your place in the eyes of the Longford beast.