Devil
The Devil of Danbury
A grey friar walked in; the steeple came down.
Stand where it happened
- What's there
- Hilltop church with a rebuilt spire
- Legend from
- Medieval chronicle
- Tone
- Chilling
Danbury church ahead. In 1402 the Devil walked in here dressed as a friar, and the spire came crashing down.
On Corpus Christi day in 1402, according to the chronicle used by Holinshed, the Devil came to Danbury church in the shape of a grey friar while the people were at worship. A terrible storm broke, the top of the steeple was thrown down and half the chancel was scattered. A later telling adds that the Devil passed between the legs of one parishioner, who afterwards wasted away and died. The church's own history says the tower and spire were destroyed in 1402, probably by storm or fire, and that the congregation blamed the Devil.