The Paranormal Database

Petrified Quoits

Location: Moretonhampstead (Devon) - Hel Tor and Blackingstone hills
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: According to legend, King Arthur stood on Hel Tor, the Devil on Blackingstone, and a game of quoits ensued. They threw discs at each other until Arthur finally won - the Devil, disgusted with the outcome, turned the last two quoits into stone.

The Mottistone Long Stone, Isle of Wight.

St Catherine's Throw

Location: Mottistone (Isle of Wight) - Long Stone
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: To settle a dispute over who should control the island, Saint Catherine and the Devil agreed to a stone tossing contest. Saint Catherine's throw was straight and true, landing some seven miles away. The Devil's throw fell short and, true to his word, he left the island. Other versions of the story replace Saint Catherine with a neighbourhood giant, but with the same outcome. Either way, the thrown boulder remains for all to see. It is now thought the two stones are part of a Neolithic long barrow, but of course, I'm sure that's what the Devil wants you to believe.

Wild Humphrey

Location: Nesscliffe (Shropshire) - Kynaston's Cave
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Circa 1500
Further Comments: Wild Humphrey Kynaston, local highwayman and friend to the poor, used this cave as a hideout. His horse could make jumps so daring the creature was said to either be the Devil himself, or alternatively, the Devil had helped the horse.

Devil's Hoof

Location: Newington (Kent) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A hoof print is visible in a stone by the gate. The Devil was once so upset by the sound of the church bells, he climbed the steeple with the intent of stealing them; he slipped and fell, leaving the single piece of evidence behind.

The Pot o' Pittenyoul

Location: Newmill, Keith (Moray) - Stream by the hamlet
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Pot o' Pittenyoul was a small, rocky pool along the stream. A local legend said that one of the worn stones was a seat used by the devil.

Moved Foundations

Location: North Otterington (North Yorkshire) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The church here was intended to be built closer to Thornton-le-Moor but the Devil moved the stones to where the church was finally constructed.

Downed Devil

Location: Northlew (Devon) - General area
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Old Nick is said to have died from the cold as he passed through this area.

Relocated Church

Location: Nursling (Hampshire) - St Boniface Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The church once stood in Mary's Grove until the Devil appeared one night and moved the structure to its present location.

An old woodcut of a man and the Devil on horseback.

Sir Rowland

Location: Odell (Bedfordshire) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Every hundred years (next expected 2044)
Further Comments: Sir Rowland Alston made a deal with the Devil, though when Old Nick came for Alston's soul, the man fled to the nearby church for help. It proved futile, and Alston was dragged to hell. Scratch marks can be seen in the church porch where Alston tried to hold on as the Devil dragged him away. The scene is re-enacted once a century.

The Passenger

Location: Olney (Buckinghamshire) - Whirley Pit (pond)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The pond is said to be bottomless; occasionally a phantom coach pulled by headless horses led by a decapitated driver passes through the village and dives into the pool, their passenger none other than the Devil on his way home.

The Devil Takes His Due

Location: Ormesby (Norfolk) - Exact location unknown
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 15 May (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: The Devil is said to appear and burn down an old mill, containing a miller, his daughter, and a visitor.

Dropped by Old Nick

Location: Over (Cheshire) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The church once stood in the middle of the village, but the Devil tried to run off with it. He dropped the building where it currently stands when he heard the ringing of the bells at a nearby abbey.

Pleased to Meet you...

Location: Pluckley (Kent) - Devil's Bush
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An unknown bush in the village can be used to summon the Devil, by dancing three (or thirteen) times around it, and/or saying (or not saying) a spell.

Relocation

Location: Plympton (Devon) - Church of St Mary's
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Church still present
Further Comments: The villagers were going to build their church at Crownhill Castle, but the Devil created so much havoc during the laying of the foundations the building was relocated to where it now stands.

Dr Foster

Location: Porlock (Somerset) - Whitstones (aka Whit Stones), northeast of common
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Stones still present
Further Comments: These stones where thrown into position when Dr Foster and the Devil had a hurling contest. Another story says it was the Devil and Saint Dubricius, while a third says it was a giant and Old Nick.

Thrown

Location: Portesham (Dorset) - The Hellstone
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: These stones came into being when Old Nick threw it from Portland Pike, during a game of Quoits.

Cheap Devil

Location: Poundsgate (Devon) - Tavistock Inn
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Seventeenth century
Further Comments: Old Nick once popped into this public house for a quick pint during a storm. He resembled a normal man, apart from his cloven feet that were spotted by the landlady. While the Devil did pay for his drink, the money turned into old leaves the moment he left.

Grave

Location: Redhill (Somerset) - Hurdlestone Wood
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A giant's grave is said to be within this wooded area. The area is said to take its name from a rock that sits on the edge of a nearby cliff, thrown there by the Devil during a competition.

Tall Man

Location: Rhos-y-garth (Dyfed) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: One of several churches in Wales where the Devil was once said to have appeared in the form of a man with an evil looking face (or the head of a dog), with his appearance causing illness to witnesses.

Devil's Lock

Location: Rickmansworth (Hertfordshire) - Grand Union Canal lock
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Midnight
Further Comments: A piece of nineteenth century folklore said the Devil in the form of a man would sit on the lock gate at midnight, and only heaven could help anyone who tried to use his service during this time.

A horned devil (public domain).

Croydon Hill Devil

Location: Rodhuish (Somerset) - The nearby Croydon Hill
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Stormy nights
Further Comments: An old lane on this hill was once reportedly home to a creature with horns. A local lad, who once dressed up as the creature to play a joke on strangers who used the lane, disappeared without trace; it is known thought his ghostly screams can be heard on stormy nights, as the real Devil takes him.

The Devil's Burning Nose

Location: Royal Tunbridge Wells (Kent) - Bathing Waters
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Waters still present
Further Comments: After being attacked by Saint Dunstan in Mayfield, Old Nick ran here and placed his flaming nose into the waters - they turned red and have remained so ever since.

The Rudston Monolith

Location: Rudston (East Riding of Yorkshire) - Churchyard
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The tallest monolith in the UK, one tale states the stone was thrown by the Devil with the intent of knocking down the nearby church. Another tale states that the rock was dropped from the sky, killing one or two people intent of desecrating the graves.

William Blake's Satan, circa 1795.

The Old Brick Mover

Location: Sarratt (Hertfordshire) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Eleventh century
Further Comments: The Devil was said to have moved the bricks from the church's original build site just as quick as the builders could lay them. The builders finally gave up and constructed the church where it stands today.

Failed Bridge

Location: Seascale (Cumbria) - Carl Crag
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Evidence still present
Further Comments: The Devil once tried to build a bridge between Seascale and the Isle of Man - his apron split and all but one of the stones were lost at sea. The remaining rock remains, with two white seams showing where the apron strings were once wrapped.