Things to do - Myths & Legends of Dartmoor

Things to do | Activities | Archaeology | Attractions | Dartmoor Towns & Villages | Eating Out | Kids Zone | Myths & Legends | Shopping | Wildlife

<<Back to Myths & Legends main page

Ghosts

Okehampton Castle (English Heritage)

The ghost of Lady Howard haunts this castle and the legend goes that at midnight every night she travels from Okehampton to Tavistock in the form of black dog, having taken a blade of grass from the castle grounds. The dog runs alongside a coach made from the bones of her dead husbands and only when Lady Howard has removed every single blade of grass from the castle, will her spirit find peace.

Jay's Grave

There are many variations on the tale of Jay's Grave, but the story at the heart of it remains the same.

Kitty Jay was a 19th century farm worker who became pregnant and hung herself when her lover disowned her. In those days suicides were buried at crossroads in order to confuse their spirits, so that they couldn't find their way back to haunt the living.

The twist to this legend is that even now, fresh flowers appear on Jays' Grave every morning, but no one knows who leaves them, even though rumours say they're left by pixies.

Novelist John Galsworthy, who once lived in nearby Wingstone Farm, wrote his novell 'The Apple Tree' which is based on Kitty Jay's tale.

Spinster's Rock

This is the only recognisable Neolithic Dolmen left in Devon and consists of three upright stones, with one large capstone. It was supposed to have been erected by three maidens one morning before breakfast.

There are many tales about the stone circles and structures on Dartmoor, with the most common telling of maidens being turned into stone for dancing on the Sabbath.

Buckland Abbey (National Trust)

There are stories of ghosts being sighted in and around the Abbey and also rumours of undiscovered tunnels connecting the Abbey to the local village.

Also legends abound about Sir Francis Drake being in league with the Devil to ensure the defeat of the Armada and his ghost now drives across Dartmoor on the Tavistock to Plymouth route in a black coach drawn by headless horses and pursued by a pack of yelping hounds.

Bowerman's Nose

This granite stack near Manaton, has a few tales surrounding it. The most popular is that Bowerman was a hunter and one day, in pursuit of a hare, he ran through a coven of witches who were very angry that he'd upset their ritual. The next time Bowerman went hunting, one of the witches turned herself into a hare and led the hunter on a chase all over Dartmoor, until he was exhausted. Then all of the witches turned Bowerman to stone and his hounds became the rocks at Hound Tor.

Hairy Hands Bridge

The bridge on the B3212 between Postbridge and Two Bridges is the location for some malevolent hauntings.

The legend is that a pair of hairy hands appear on your steering wheel/handlebars and try to force you off the road. There have been many incidents on this stretch of road which is notorious for fatal accidents, including in 1921 when a medical officer from Dartmoor Prison died after his motorbike went out of control.

This area was avoided long before motor vehicles were common on the road.