| Where: | Shebbear, Devon outside the Devil's Stone pub |
| When: | 5th November |
| Time: | 8pm |
When the rest of the country is setting off fireworks and bonfires on Guy Fawkes Night, the villagers at Shebbear attack a huge boulder on the green with crowbars. They have to turn over the Devil’s Stone, which weighs about a ton and is approximately 6 foot by 4, otherwise bad luck will follow. The origins of the custom are steeped in legend – the stone was dropped by St Michael upon the Devil himself- but why turning the stone averts misfortune, nobody knows. The church bells are rung discordantly, the Vicar tells the tale of the legend and the stone gets turned over by the bellringers for another year.
Helpful Hints
The village pub next to the boulder is named after it : The Devil’s Stone Inn and has a painted sign with Old Nick himself sitting on the stone. When we visited in 2021 refreshments were available from 5.30 at the pub, with live music to follow (see Facebook link below for details of current availability).
The turning takes just a few minutes but you can expect morris dancers beforehand and there are often tasty refreshments available from the pub.It’s always on 5th, even when it falls on a Sunday.
Click here for church contacts: https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/9134/
Click here for the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thedevilsstoneinn
A fascinating tradition which I must one day see myself but has 5th November always been the specific date for the stone turning ceremony ? If so why? ( Was it a further link to anti-Catholic hostilities ? ) If not, then what was / were previous stone turning date/ dates and what was the reason for change ? What is the oldest recorded date for the ceremony ?
Now, because the chemical composition apparently does not collate with known rocks within Europe and as geologists have traced the Blue Stones of Stonehenge to very, very specific outcrops in Pembroke has anyone yet managed to nail down a source site appertaining to this boulder ?
Does both its physical size and weight eliminate the probability of speculation for the stone having been a meteorite ?
Hi Steve,
As far as I know, the custom has always been associated with 5th November but according to Steve Roud (who is an authority on such matters!) in The English Year, there is no evidence of the custom pre-20th century. That, of course, doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen before that date, just that nobody wrote about it. I haven’t yet discovered what the likely origin of the stone might be but it’s large and weighs around a ton – I think most meteorites are very small compared to this. If a meteorite that size hit earth it would be in a crater miles wide!
As I’m hoping to be there this week, I’ll let you know if I find out anything fresh….
Best wishes,
Averil
Your all blooming mad none of this is in the bible….. your all off your trolley
Apparently the stone is a glacial erratic, dropped at the last Ice Age.
Not dropped by St Michael on the devil after all? 🙂 This seems a much likelier explanation, I must say!
Just to let everyone know who’s interested, the stone was still turned throughout the lockdown period and was again last night 5/11/21 with a fantastic crowd to spur on the turning ceremony.
Thanks for that info Keith- those of us who couldn’t join you will no doubt be pleased to hear that some bad luck has been averted by the good people of Shebbear keeping the tradition alive even during pestilence!
I only saw this once. My daughter giggled all through and the heavy rain diluted my pint.
Hi
I would to know if this event is still on please on 5/11/20
Hi Annmarie,
I haven’t contacted the church to double check about this as under the current lockdown any gatherings of more than 2 people are forbidden anyway, so I assume it won’t be happening- sorry I can’t be more help!
Averil
Hi thank you for getting back to me
Thanks Annmarie- I hope they find a way to go ahead with the custom somehow- maybe with a couple of really strong people!- as frankly anything that averts bad luck needs doing right now! However I’m sure there won’t be a public event this time as they’d be liable for a big fine. Hopefully it’ll be able to go ahead as normal next time. It’s well worth going 🙂
Averil
I grew up in Shebbear, and you may be sure they turned the stone, How else could they keep the Devil away?
Hi Steve,
Many thanks for sharing that info – I’m very pleased to hear it!
Averil
Hello, is this going ahead this year?
Hi Rachael,
Yes it should be going ahead if all goes according to plan- I’ve added a link under Helpful Hints to the pub, as there are further details on their Facebook page. You can find the event listing at https://www.facebook.com/events/1097126080695105?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A%5B%7B%22surface%22%3A%22page%22%7D%5D%7D
I’d advise keeping a check on that page just in case there are any changes to the plan, as that’ll be where they first appear.
Best wishes,
Averil
Hi everyone, as Keith said the Stone has been turned during the pandemic, but without crowds, so all within the law and as a result Boris didn’t attend.
There is more information on the local website: http://www.shebbearvillage.co.uk/shebbear.htm
There are other legends of turning stones but no explanations for the custom. By ancient custom, the Bulmer stone in Darlington revolves all by itself 9 times at 12 o’clock twice a day…there is no explanation for this and nobody sober has witnessed the revolutions!
Thanks for the comment Paul- hadn’t heard the story about the Bulmer Stone but think I’ll resist putting it on the Daily Customs section of the website if nobody sober has witnessed it 🙂
Best wishes,
Averil