Folklore, Myth & Legend

Rebecca Beattie

Bere Alston

Dartmoor-raised author, Wiccan priestess and witchcraft teacher whose books explore nature, magic and the wheel of the year.

The Coffin Stone

A stone at Dartmeet said to mark a coffin's resting place, or to warn of death.

The Dewerstone and the Wild Hunt

A Wild Hunt legend tied to an Iron Age fort above the River Plym, popular in Dartmoor folklore but of uncertain age and origin.

The Hairy Hands

A ghost story about phantom hands attacking drivers on a remote stretch of the B3212 near Postbridge, popular since the early 20th century.

The Great Thunderstorm of Widecombe

A devil legend tied to a violent thunderstorm at Widecombe church in 1638, and how the story has shifted over three centuries.

The Legend of Bowerman's Nose

A granite outcrop near Manaton said to be a hunter turned to stone for hunting on the Sabbath.

The Legend of Kitty Jay

The grave of Kitty Jay, a suicide victim denied consecrated burial, near Hound Tor on Dartmoor.

The Piskies of Sheepstor

A pixie legend attached to Sheepstor, on the high moor between Princetown and Dartmeet.

The Wisht Hounds of Wistman's Wood

Spectral hounds said to hunt across Dartmoor on winter nights, particularly near Wistman's Wood on the West Dart River.