---
name: "Devil's Stone"
subtitle: "A Devon village turns a one-tonne rock every November to keep the Devil under it"
date: 2026-07-21
shortlist: true
link: "https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/devil-s-stone-3"
linkText: "Atlas Obscura"
source: "Atlas Obscura"
topics: [travel-and-places, history-and-archives]
tags: [devon, folklore, tradition, england]
description: "Every 5 November at 8pm the bell ringers of Shebbear, Devon, lever a one-tonne stone over with crowbars — the Devil is said to need exactly a year to dig back out."
---

At 8pm on the fifth of November the bell ringers of Shebbear ring the church bells wildly to scatter evil spirits, walk to the village square, and lever a one-tonne stone over with crowbars while the crowd cheers. The Devil dropped it on himself during a fight with the Archangel Michael and is pinned underneath; local reckoning gives him exactly a year to dig through, hence the annual flip. Visit any other day and the proof is still there — the dent in the ground where the stone sat last year.
