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Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

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Old Nick across the Isles

Cloven Feet

Location: Cock Mill (Yorkshire) - General area
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Cock fighting and other forms of gambling would take place in this secluded area. One story said that during one game of cards, a mysterious man in black sat and joined. One player was mortified when, bending over to pick up a dropped card, he noticed the man in black had cloven feet.


A teacher who taught Satan a lesson.

Home of the Devil

Location: Cockerham (Lancashire) - River Cocker and surrounding area
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Devil once decided that his new home would be here, but a cunning schoolteacher managed to drive him away after convincing Old Nick that he should try to make a rope of sand which could be used in the river without dissolving.

Rotating Stone

Location: Colwall (Hereford & Worcester) - Stone in the centre of the village
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Every night at midnight (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Old Nick appears at midnight every night to turn the stone around.

Thrown

Location: Corfe Castle (Dorset) - Rempstone Stone Circle (private property)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Stones still present
Further Comments: Accidently created by the Devil as he tried to hurl boulders at Corfe Castle, these stones fell in a rough circle shape.

The Devil's Chair

Location: Corscombe (Dorset) - Corscombe standing stones
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Stones still present
Further Comments: Named after a belief that the Devil would once sit here, the stones are also called Granny's Armchair (which is not quite as frightening).

Failed Roadblock

Location: Corscombe (Dorset) - Toller Down standing stones
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Stones still present
Further Comments: The Devil threw these stones into position while trying to block the road.

White Stag

Location: Corwen (Clwyd) - Llangar Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Fifteenth century?
Further Comments: Work on the church was hampered by the Devil stealing the construction materials each night. A wise man told the builders the only way to prevent this from happening was to find a new spot for the church, and that the area would be indicated by a white stag. Sure enough, after searching the local area, a white stag was found; the church was successfully built on the spot of the sighting with no further interruptions.

Moving Away

Location: Cottenham (Cambridgeshire) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Church still present
Further Comments: The church was due to be built in the middle of the village, but the Devil thought otherwise and moved the building materials to the outskirts.

The Devil's Shovel Full

Location: Coxbench (Derbyshire) - Circular earthworks
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: This barrow was created by Old Nick after he lost his shoe and was forced to drop a shovel full of earth with which he intended to dam the Derwent in Derby.

Thrown Missile

Location: Crail (Fife) - Blue Stone (outside the parish church)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The Devil, who may have been secretly involved in constructing the church, was angered by a local man. The Devil fled to the Isle of May and threw a stone at the church. The projectile fell short and remains in place to this day.

Footballing Devil

Location: Crawshawbooth (Lancashire) - Village green
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Old Nick once popped up and started playing football on the Sabbath with a group of local lads - with his first kick of the ball it turned into a burning sphere, causing all the other players to flee!

Lost Bell

Location: Danbury (Essex) - Bell Common
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Having stolen the church bell, the Devil dropped it on the common, where it sunk into the earth. The bell is said to still be buried there today.

Devil in Disguise

Location: Danbury (Essex) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 1492
Further Comments: During a violent storm, a ghostly monk appeared during Mass in the church. At the same time, the roof shook with such force that it was feared it would collapse. Some say the monk was the devil in disguise, and he returned a short time later, left scorch marks on the north door, and stole the bell.

Lost Souls

Location: Darlington (Durham) - Hell's Kettles, along the River Tees
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Kettles still present
Further Comments: Deep pools of water located along the river, the Hell's Kettles are said to contain the souls of sinners. Some report that these people (and animals in some cases) can be seen floating in the pools when the waters are clear.

The Devil does a Deal

Location: Dartmoor (Devon) - Tunhill Kistvaen
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 21 October 1631
Further Comments: It was at this spot that Jan Reynolds was approached by a cloaked stranger who bought his soul from him for seven years of good luck. He agreed, and seven years later the Devil came and took his due, while Jan sat in Widecombe church.

Petrified Parson

Location: Dawlish (Devon) - Parson and Clerk Rock
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A priest and his clerk found themselves lost in the area and sought shelter in an old house where they found several men eating and drinking to excess. The two visitors joined in, only to soon realise that their host was Old Nick. They tried to escape but failed. One legend says that they were found dead on the rock that now bears their names, while other stories say that the pair were turned into the stone.

Broken Apron

Location: Dene (Durham) - Castle Eden
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 1133
Further Comments: The Devil decided to sabotage the construction of Durham Cathedral; he visited Castle Eden and found an inferior piece of limestone that could added to the cathedral foundations. Placing the stone in his apron pocket, the Devil took to the skies, only for his apron to snap and the stone to fall. The Devil's scratch marks can still be seen on the rock, where he tried to catch it but and failed.

Cheated Devil

Location: Devil's Bridge (Dyfed) - Lowest of the three bridges
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This bridge was built by Old Nick by the request of an old woman who needed to cross the water to reach her livestock. In return for his work, the Devil demanded the soul of the first living creature to walk over it. The old woman was not prepared to lose her own soul and sent her dog over the bridge first; the Devil left angry and empty handed.

Devil's Print

Location: Devil's Dyke (Sussex) - Hillfort, and general location
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: An ancient hillfort, Devil's Dyke is also rumoured to be a popular place with those who practice the dark arts; it was here a large footprint was found in the mud, twice the size of a human's, with only four toes. Legend has it that the Devil tried to dig a large trench across the land to flood all the churches in the region. He was foiled by either St Dunstan or a local man who made all the cockerels in the area crow, fooling the Devil into thinking dawn was arriving.

Black Tom of Scothill

Location: Dewsbury (Yorkshire) - Dewsbury Parish Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Black Tom is the name of the bell in the church and is tolled the number of the year (ie, in 2007 it was tolled 2007 times) to ensure Old Nick does not visit the village during the following twelve months. The last peal must occur on the stroke of midnight to ensure success.


An old postcard showing Dollar in Scotland.

Floating Stone

Location: Dollar (Clackmannanshire) - Deil's Cradle, found on a glen which was known as Burngrens
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 31 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The stone was said to float in the air on Halloween's night, the Devil sitting upon it, surrounded by witches, until dawn breaks the following morn.

Meeting Place

Location: Drymen (Stirling) - Finnich Glen, aka Devil's Pulpit
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Devil would stand on this site and preach to his followers below.

Relocation

Location: Duffield (Derbyshire) - St Alkmund's Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Church still standing
Further Comments: Wayne Anthony, in Haunted Derbyshire and the Peak District, writes that St Alkmund's was going to be constructed next to Duffield castle, but every night for a week the building materials were moved by the Devil to the current site where it was eventually erected.

Doom Park

Location: Earlsferry (Fife) - Unidentified park
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Early twentieth century?
Further Comments: A circular piece of ground, surrounded by a low wall, was said to have been left untouched by human hands as it belonged to the Devil. It was officially known as the Dome Park, but as it was believed that only evil people were buried there, it acquired the name Doom Park.


The bell house at East Bergholt church, Suffolk.

Missing Steeple

Location: East Bergholt (Suffolk) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Bell house still stands
Further Comments: Night after night, during the construction of the church, the Devil appeared and pulled down the steeple. The builders finally gave up building the tower, and the bells now stand in a little bell house.

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