The Paranormal Database

Angry Old Nick

Location: Shelve (Shropshire) - The Devil's Chair
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: This rocky outcrop is named after Old Nick after he accidentally dropped stones here instead of Hell's Gutter. A local legend says the Devil hates the area so much that he continues to bring heavy boulders to the area, hoping the county will sink beneath the sea.

Onion

Location: Silchester (Hampshire) - Stone on the common, Hampshire/Berkshire Border
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A local giant named Onion tossed a stone that landed on the common, a mile away, leaving the impressions of his fingers upon it. Others have said that the stone was thrown by the Devil.

Devil's Treasure

Location: Southwood (Norfolk) - Old church and Callow Pit
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend states that the door handle of the church is all that remains of a treasure chest discovered by three (or two) men at the bottom of Callow Pit. As the men tried to take the chest away with them, Old Nick appeared and pulled at the other end - the men managed to escape with only one handle from the chest.

Devil's Headstone

Location: Spondon (Derbyshire) - St Warburg's Churchyard
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 1960s, 1970s
Further Comments: A local legend speaks of the 'Devils Gravestone'; from the nearby path you could see the image of Old Nick upon a headstone, but when approached, nothing can be seen. A witness who would walk past the illusion on the way to school in the 1960s said that the headstone was moved in the 1980s, destroying the pareidolia.

Knox

Location: St Andrews (Fife) - General area
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 1570
Further Comments: John Knox was banished from St Andrew after he raised the Devil. The event was supposedly witnessed by Knox's servant Richard Bannatyne, who became insane and died shortly after.

Moving Bricks

Location: St Brelade (Jersey) - Parish church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The church was going to be built over a mile away, but the workmen awoke the day the construction was due to start and found their materials had been moved closer to the sea. The men spent the day moving everything back to the original spot, but after the materials were once again moved the following night, the church was constructed where it now stands. The jury is divided on whether God, the Devil or fairy folk were responsible.

From the book The History of Witches and Wizards, 1720.

Devil's Print

Location: St Clement (Jersey) - Rocqueberg, rocky outcrop
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: The area was reputedly the meeting place for witches and for summoning the devil. A footprint left by the devil is said to be still visible on a rock.

Dando

Location: St Germans (Cornwall) - Erth Hill, near the rivers of Tiddy and Lynher
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Circa fourteenth century?
Further Comments: Dando was a monk and a bit of a rogue - he enjoyed hunting on a Sunday. One Sabbath he was out hunting for hare when the Devil appeared and grabbed all the game Dando had hanging from his horse. Old Nick ran, Dando in hot pursuit - unfortunately, the monk lost his balance on the bank of the Tiddy and fell in. The waters turned to steam, and Dando was taken to hell.

A devil hacks a field with a scythe. Woodcut, circa1700-1720.

Mowing Contest

Location: St Mabyn (Cornwall) - Exact location not known
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Devil and the village smith had a hay mowing contest in the village. Unbeknown to Old Nick, the smith planted obstacles (most likely iron stakes) in the Devil's half of the field, ensuring the Devil's scythe quickly became blunt. Enraged, Old Nick threw his whetstone at the smith - it missed and landed in a field where it remained for some time before being removed.

An old postcard showing the Devils Hole on Jersey.

Sea Sounds

Location: St Mary (Jersey) - Devils Hole
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A wooden devil figurehead from a ship once stood here, and although the first was stolen and burned, a modern replacement exist. Although some modern tales relate the crashing of the sea from the holes to legends, there is little to suggest people ever thought the noise was related to the Devil.

An old postcard of St Mawgan in Cornwall.

Moved

Location: St Mawgan (Cornwall) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: During construction, the Devil moved the stones each night to where the church now stands.

New Shoes for the Devil

Location: St Nicholas (South Glamorgan) - Dusty Forge Inn
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This inn was once a blacksmith, where the Devil was caught making new shoes for himself.

Wedding Party

Location: Stanton Drew (Somerset) - Standing Stones
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Dressed as a fiddler, the Devil convinced all the guests from a wedding to dance on a Sunday - for the sin, the entire party were turned to stone. Another creation story for the site says a passing giant dropped the contents of his shovel that formed the circle of stones.

The Devil's Game

Location: Stanton Harcourt (Oxfordshire) - Devil's Quoits
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Stones still present
Further Comments: Playing Quoits on Beacon Hill, some two and a half miles away, the Devil was informed he was not playing the game correctly. In a rage, he threw the stones to where they now stand.

Devil's Gold

Location: Staple Fitzpaine (Somerset) - Devil's Stone, near the church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: The stone was once thought to have gold concealed underneath, hidden by the Devil. However, when moved to make way for a new road, nothing was found.

Devil

Location: Stony Hurst (Lancashire) - Cromwell Bridge
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The Devil is reputed to cross the bridge once a year - if he looks you in the eye, he'll take your soul!

Construction Devil

Location: Stowe Nine Churches (Northamptonshire) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The foundation stones of the church were moved around the village by Old Nick nine times before the rest of the building could be constructed. Another version of the story blames fairies.

An old woodcut of the Devil dragging a person through the street of an unknown city.

Devil's Bath

Location: Strathpeffer (Highland) - Hot springs in the area
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The hot springs found in the region are said to be used by the Devil to wash both himself and his dirty linen.

Missed

Location: Studland (Dorset) - Agglestone (aka Devil's Anvil, aka Devil's Nightcap)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Rock still present
Further Comments: The Agglestone came into being when the Devil, angered by Corfe Castle obstructing his view from Needles Rock (in the Isle of Wight), removed his nightcap and threw it in an to knock over the towers. He failed.

Old Nick's Ground, Studland.

Harry

Location: Studland (Dorset) - Cliffs
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The cliffs around this area are known as Old Nick's Ground, while the sea stack made from chalk is called Old Harry (Harry being another name for the Devil). Another rock stack that stood here was said to be the Devil's Wife (or Daughter), but it collapsed during a storm in the 1890s; the remains of the stack is just visible during low spring tides. The caves in the cliff are said to still be warm as Harry likes to spend time there.

Whistle

Location: Swanton Morley (Norfolk) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An old belief from this area of Norfolk was by running around the church at midnight and whistling through the keyhole, the Devil would be seen.

Sunbathing Devil

Location: Tarr Steps (Somerset) - By the River Barle
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The steps were created by Old Nick, and he uses them so he can catch some rays on the nicer days of summer.

The Devil collecting stones.

St Michael saves the Day

Location: Tavistock (Devon) - Brent Tor
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The church was to be built at the base of the hill, but the Devil came every night and moved the foundation stones to the top. Even though St Michael appeared and scared Old Nick away, the church was built where the Devil wanted it to be.

Drinker

Location: Tealby (Lincolnshire) - Devil's Pulpit
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: When the Devil hears the clock strike twelve, he emerges and drinks from the nearby stream.

John Alcock

Location: Temple Grafton (Warwickshire) - Alcocks Arbour (aka Rolls Wood Hill), Croft Lane
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Present
Further Comments: Highwayman John Alcock stashed much of his ill-gotten gains in a cave under this hill, in a chest protected by three locks and guarded by a cockerel. The bird will only let treasure hunters pass if they possessed one of Alcock's bones. Another legend says the Devil created the hill; out picking nuts on Devil's Nutting Day (21 September), Old Nick stumbled across the Virgin Mary who ordered him to drop the nuts. The Devil did, thus creating the hill.