DevilFamous
The Devil's Chair
He sat down to rest. The stones never moved again.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Jagged quartzite tors on a heather ridge
- Legend from
- Folk tale, recorded 1880s
- Tone
- Eerie
The Devil's apron-string snapped on this ridge. On a hot day you can still smell the brimstone.
The Stiperstones ridge is crowned with jagged quartzite tors, and the largest is the Devil's Chair. Burne records that the Devil was carrying an apronful of stones from Ireland when he sat down to rest on the highest rock. His apron-string broke, and the stones scattered along the ridge, where they still lie. In hot weather, people said, you could smell brimstone near the Chair. Lead-miners told another version: if the Stiperstones ever sank into the ground, England would be ruined, so the Devil sits on them trying to press them down. The ridge is also linked with Wild Edric and appears in Mary Webb's novels.