Devil · Hindhead · Famous
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He took one handful. Surrey still hasn't filled it in.
See it clearly
National Trust car park and café at Hindhead; paths round the rim. Check before you go.
One furious handful of earth, scooped by the Devil, and Surrey got a valley.
The Devil's Punch Bowl is a huge natural hollow below Hindhead, wooded and steep, with mist that often fills it like a bowl. The National Trust gives the local legend. The Devil used to torment Thor by leaping about on the Devil's Jumps. When Thor struck back with thunder and lightning, the Devil scooped up a handful of earth and hurled it at him, and the hole he left is the Punch Bowl. Other tellings reverse it, with Thor doing the scooping. The name first appears on Rocque's map of 1768. Before that it was 'ye Bottom'.