FRIDAY-Widecombe-in-the-Moor

Widecombe-in-the-Moor was the place i'd originally wanted to stay in when we began planning our trip to Dartmoor. It's very charming, but also pretty touristy. Postbridge, where we're staying, is very very small (maybe 10 dwellings here) and nothing very touristy at all. We love it!




Ok, so Widecombe-in-the-Moor: very cool place. The old church, St. Pancras, is the main attraction there. This church, erected around 1540 is a gothic beauty with a very full graveyard next to it. Just the kind of Halloweeny stuff I love.




But if you want Halloweeny jackpot... St. Pancras is a really good one. The story goes: In 1683, on October 21st (just by chance the SAME DAY WE VISITED!!!) a dark rider on a black horse came into Dartmoor from the south that evening. He stopped at a tavern in Poundsgate for an ale. Locals watched the hooded figure toss back his ale and could hear it sizzle in his throat as it went down.

The dark man set his pewter tankard down on the bar, tossed the coins for his ale on the bar, and rode off. The barkeep and several patrons swore they saw cloven hooves for feet as he strode from the bar. When the barkeep looked down, she saw that the dark rider's coins had turned to dry leaves on the bar. The pewter tankard was still hot to the touch, and it left a ring on the bar that is still there today if you stop into the tavern in Poundsgate.

BUT THE STORY DOESN'T STOP THERE. (This story was about Widecombe-in-the-Moor, eh?) The black rider continued north as a very dark storm gathered about the moors surrounding the village of Widecombe. It's said his laughter was heard as he tore through town on his black steed, racing past St. Pancras church. At that moment, the fury of The Great Thunderstorm of 1683, October 21st, rained down destruction on the church. Lightning and ball lightning wrecked havoc on the building, blasting stones from the tower and reducing some to sand according to accounts of the time.

According to local legend, the thunderstorm was the result of a visit by the devil who had made a pact with a local card player and gambler called Jan Reynolds. The deal was that if the devil ever found him asleep in church, he could have his soul. Jan was said to have nodded off during the service that Sunday evening, with his pack of cards in his hand.

Four parishoners were killed, some died days later of their burns, and around 60 injured. Some had coins or keys melt in their purses. It's said that the dead still wander the streets of Widecombe-in-the-Moor on a dark October 21st night like tonight.