The Paranormal Database

The devil at work.

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 forge, 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.

The Agglestone.

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 would often lose fights against saints.

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.

The Devil would often lose fights against holy figures.

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.

The Devil (detail) from William Blake's Great Red Dragon paintings.

Broken Tooth

Location: Templemore (County Tipperary) - Devil's Bit (mountain)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Rock still present
Further Comments: This mountain is so named after Old Nick took a bite from it - he broke a tooth in the process, which formed the Rock of Cashel.

Concealed House

Location: Thetford (Norfolk) - Castle Hill
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local story states that a mansion lies buried under the hill, filled with wealth beyond dreams. Another story says that the hill was created by the Devil, created by mud falling from his shoe. Walking around the hill seven times at midnight is said to summon him.

A Quick Drink

Location: Thetford (Norfolk) - Devil's Punchbowl (mere)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: This mere has an erratic water level; perhaps previous generations attributed the sudden disappearance of water to the Devil having a quick drink while passing by.

Grime's Graves, Thetford.

The Devil's Holes

Location: Thetford (Norfolk) - Grime's Graves, prehistoric flint mine
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The name 'Grime's Graves' is thought to have come about in the sixteenth century, Grime being a corruption of Grim, a pagan god that Christians associated with the devil.

Jumping Devil

Location: Thornecombe (Dorset) - Trees between village and Birdsmore Gate
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Devil is sometimes thought to exercise by jumping over the trees located between these two locations.

Moved Again

Location: Thriplow (Cambridgeshire) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Church still present
Further Comments: The village folk wanted their church in a hollow by their homes, but the Devil had other plans, and moved it to the hill.

Contest

Location: Tidenham (Gloucestershire) - The Broadstone, between village and Woolastaston
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: The Devil and the giant Jack o'Kent had a stone throwing contest - the Devil's stone landed here, while Jack's landed way over the River Severn, winning him the game.

Take it Down

Location: Tilton on the Hill (Leicestershire) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Devil became upset at the building of this church, so during the night would undo the construction work. It is unclear who or what motivated the Devil to cease his actions. Another story says a visitor to the site watched a monk dressed in black walk through the church and vanish at the pulpit.

Knight Meeting with the Devil

Location: Tolleshunt Knights (Essex) - Moot (or Moat) Field
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Twelfth Century
Further Comments: Local legend recalls a knight who wished to build a house a mile away from the field. The devil came each night and pulled the house down, until the knight agreed to erect the building closer to the field.

A Woman Scorned

Location: Torbay (Devon) - Daddyhole (or Daddy Hole) Plain
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Scorned by a knight, a woman invited the warrior and his new love to meet here. The woman murdered the couple, and as a storm developed, the Devil appeared and took the murderess into a nearby hole (presumably to hell).

Witches meeting the Devil.

Kings

Location: Totternhoe (Bedfordshire) - Five Knolls (barrows)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Barrows still present
Further Comments: There are seven barrows at Five Knolls and legend has them contain former kings. During a seventeenth century witch trial, local woman Elizabeth Pratt claimed to have met the Devil at the site.