Though we normally shout about the beauty and the friendly atmosphere you can find in North Devon, today, we’re celebrating the supernatural with some of the creepier stories from the region. This Halloween, there are plenty of hair raising events to ensure a spookily good time, here are some of the scariest sites around North Devon to visit this October.
Today, the coast around North Devon is part of the UK’s Surf Reserve and is a designated area of natural beauty, in the time of shipping goods via boat rather than air or road, the coast here was known as the Sailors Grave because of the amount of shipwrecks, particularly at Mortehoe.
Tales from Mortehoe and Morte Point
While Mortehoe is one of North Devon’s most beautiful places to visit, it has a pretty gruesome history, in fact Morte is the Latin for death, so it literally translates as Death Point. This area of North Devon is particularly known for shipwrecks, with many voyages coming to an unfortunate end on the rocks. In the winter of 1852 alone, there were five shipwrecks here, in fact, it was a popular spot for smugglers and wreckers, who would deliberately lure ships into the rocks and then looting the wreckage.
Back in the times of smugglers and wreckers, it was illegal to take cargo if there were any survivors, so the wreckers would ensure that no one lived to tell the tale.
It was said that sailors would rather drown at sea rather than come to the North Devon coast because of the treacherous nature of the landscape. Today, if you visit the churchyards, particularly those closest to the coast, there will be many graves dedicated to unknown soldiers who drowned as a result of coming aground.
Another creepy tale from Mortehoe involves a woman called Elizabeth Berry, one of the region’s most feared wreckers. She lived with her family in the village but the cost of living pushed her into a life of crime. She was known to lure ships onto the shore by tying a lantern to the tail of a horse to give the impression that they were coming into a harbour. Once the ships hit the rocks, she would make her way down to the wreckage with a pitchfork and hold the sailors down until they drowned. For the most part, her neighbours were aware of what was going on and it is thought that they were too scared to stand as witnesses against her.
Elizabeth’s reign of terror came to an end after her arrest in 1850, firstly for plundering a ship, for which she served 21 days had labour and then again for wrecking on Barricaine Beach. For that, she was fined £1, but unable to pay, was sentenced to prison.
Tales from Bideford
One of the most infamous horror stories from North Devon centres around Bideford. The town was the home of the last women to be hanged for witchcraft. The three women, Temperance Lloyd, Mary Trembles and Susannah Edwards, all fell foul of the medieval witch panic, which saw hundreds of women being found guilty of witchcraft and sentenced to death.
All three of them were sentenced to death and were hanged on 25th August 1682 in Exeter. The location of their execution and subsequent burial are now within the car park of the University of Exeter.
Tales of the devil
It wasn’t just witches and wreckers hanging out in North Devon, the devil made an appearance too! If you head to the village of Shebbear, you’ll find the Devil’s Stone Inn, which comes from the Devil Stone. Local legend says that the stone was dropped in the village by the devil as he was cast out of heaven, some say that the stone was brought to the village prior to the Roman occupation, but no one really knows how the stone actually got there. The only thing we do know for sure is that the stone doesn’t appear to be from any local rock formations.
Every year on 5th November, local bell ringers turn the stone to keep the village safe. Local tradition says that the task of turning the stone has been handed down from father to son and has been done every year in village memory.
It isn’t just the fear of the devil, the inn next to the stone is also said to be haunted – there have been visions of young girls in white roaming around the pub who is thought to have died on the site around 400 years ago. There have also been sightings of a coachman and a bearded man who likes to sit at the bar.
Creeptastic events across North Devon
At the Big Sheep, the younger members of the family can enjoy the Halloween Toddler Takeover. With everything from live shows, including the Ghost of Seagull Bay, thrilling rides and pumpkins available to buy and carve, this is a thrilling day out for the whole family.
Throughout half term, there will also be Halloween themed events taking place at the farm park, find out more and get tickets here
If you dare, visit Watermouth Castle for their first ever immersive scare attraction, Descent into Darkness, where you can enjoy a Cursed Forest, the Carnival of Clowns, the Mad Maze, Voodoo Valley and the Haunted Castle. Think you’re brave enough? See more here.