Shebbear Turning the Devils Stone

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

View this location on the map.