The Devil's Stone Inn - Shebbear

Introduction

The Devils Stone Inn is situated in the heart of the ancient village of Shebbear North Devon.  A former 17th Century Farmhouse it was converted to a Coaching Inn 400 years ago.  Reputed by some to be one of the 12 most haunted pubs in England (Teachers Ghost Huntclub 1982). Former employees have alleged that many strange goings on have occurred at the pub particularly throughout time of change or refurbishment.  

Taps have in the past been found running, beds unmake themselves, pictures are found on the floor and windows are flung open.  Loud footsteps are often heard on the landing although no one is resident in the guest rooms.

Investigation

Place: Devils Stone Inn (Formerly New Inn)

Date: 25th February 2006

Time: 1000 pm - 0300 hrs

Preliminaries

After missing several turnings the "advance" party of Haunted-Devon arrived at the Inn around 6pm and following a hearty meal Byron and Pasty carried out a series of baseline tests in the allocated rooms.  The building as many of this era has seen many changes over the years - cottages, farm and Inn have all left their mark on the building.  The rooms are situated on the first floor west - and were as follows Room 5,7 and 8.  Baseline testing began at 7.15 which included search and assessment of each room - placement of thermal logging equipment and ambient temperature gauge - Room 8 has been subject to "cold" spots and the temperature rapidly dropped from 16 degrees to around 11 degrees and finally resting at 10 degrees. Room temperatures were as follows:

• Room 6-7: 15 - 18 degrees

• Room 5: 16 - 18 degrees

• Room 8: as reported.

An EMF sweep of all rooms proved inconclusive with no readings.

Medium Use

Our medium Wincey Baxter arrived and at 0730 pm - accompanied by Byron and her husband Dale she visited all rooms.  She had NOT spoken to any employee nor had she previously visited the Inn.  None of the following had previously been in public domain.  The following is a resume of her findings:

• Room 8:  Wincey stated that room 8 extended into room 7.  She picked up on the spirit of a male who was quite an angry spirit who would walk through from Room 8 to Room 7.  The spirit would push things out of his way and would probably been seen standing over the bed. 

• Employees: Confirmed that Room 8 was oppressive and that most employees would spend as little time in the room as possible.

• Room 7:  Wincey continued with the theme that both rooms 7 -8 were one and that the male would walk freely between both rooms.

• Employees: Confirmed that Room 7 and 8 were in fact once joined. A priest hole also exists in Room 7.

• Corridor:  Wincey picked up on the spirit of a young boy aged around 5 years with long blonde hair. She stated that the child would "tug" at people and would sometimes be seen on the corridor and could be heard "giggling".

• Employees: Confirmed that the corridor had been active and that a young "girl" had been seen and "giggling" heard.

• Room 5:  Wincey picked up on the sense of smoke in the room.  The room was seen as a females room and was sensed as floral.  The child was apparently connected to the room.

• Employees: Confirmed that the Inn had formerly been cottages and that a fire had taken place in that area of the building. This was confirmed on renovation uncovering charred beams.  Local stories suggest that a young girl may had possibly lost her life in the fire.

• Bar area:  Wincey picked up on the spirits of an RAF officer - around 22 years of age standing in the region of the fireplace.  She stated that a certain "spot" felt cold and that something had happened there.  A male spirit would call people "Mr" was also sensed. Tunnels had been sensed leading to the church.

• Employees: Confirmed that the landlord 3 times previous had placed the pictures of his father who was an RAF pilot on or near the fireplace. The picture depicted a young man in RAF pilot uniform. The picture had been removed a long time ago.  Although the pilot died of "old age" he did so in Room 4 in the Inn.  The cold spot had accurately depicted the location where a former customer had died suddenly at the bar.  The male referred to as Mr was known to some of the locals - he would always call everyone "Mr". Only one of the staff knew of the above due to her having worked in the Inn for over 30 years.  "Tunnels" had appeared on other websites hence this may have been subjective as the link was in public domain. A framed poem has been thrown to the floor and doors are opened on their own.

The bar picture that continues to be removed!

• Garden: Wincey picked up on slaughter that had taken place near the location.

• Employees: The area of the garden had been visited by another medium who refused to enter the garden area.  The area was a strategic point throughout the civil war.

Vigils

Noise pollution was as always excessive in a Pub.  The majority of the rooms had no carpeting and stud or partition walls.  This seriously hampered our investigation however we still had some very good results:

• Room 8:  Despite the efforts of several members of the team - we failed to communicate with any person in this room. One of the members felt extremely "sad". However a later vigil produced a very good light anomaly in the bathroom.

• Room 6: Smokey eye sensation felt by two of the group.

• Room 7: Flat.

• Room 5: Excellent results with Dave and his team being give over 30 minutes of excellent light anomalies. A total of 3 knocks were heard on the walls to the ajoining room. Dave picked up on 2 women and a child in the room using dowsing rods.  A later vigil saw several female members of the group becoming tearful and emotional for no apparent reason.  As the males had been "kicked out" of this later vigil we await confirmation of the results of the vigils.

• Bar areas: Good results in the bar area with possibly the best light anomaly we have ever seen.  Caught by Dave the Orb on a lone vigil.  Stewart encountered back pain.

Conclusion

An excellent venue where we made many friends!  May I again thank Wincey for her excellent efforts!  I would also like to thank all of the team - but a BIG thankyou to my mate Dave the Orb as Venue manager.  I will attempt to put together a full report once all evidence and footage has been recieved.  Video footage will appear in due course.

Follow-up Research

I have done some preliminary research into the area and have uncovered some "possible" links!  If you live in the area perhaps you could assist by verify the results.  Firstly the "New Inn" appears on the 1765 map of the area. A trawl of the area census for Shebbear picked up on the following name:

PAIGE, Albert George, b.1855 Shebbear-Dev, Stone Mason & Innkeeper, address 1881: New Inn, Shebbear-Dev, 1893: New Inn, Shebbear-Dev, 1897: New Inn, Shebbear-Dev.

Was this the Burley gent from room 8.  The Paige family appear from as early as the 1851 Census with George Alberts father George - who appears on the 1861 Census as a farmer with 40 acres.

Great Torrington which was around 8.5 miles north had strategic significance in the English Civil War. In the Battle of Torrington (1646), the Parliamentarians, led by Sir Thomas Fairfax, swept into the town and defeated Lord Hopton's forces. This marked the end of Royalist resistance in the West Country. It is very likely that "events" took place like those picked up on by Wincey in the garden.  The above is for interest only and is provided for your interest only although from accurate sources.

The Village

Shebbear is located some 8 miles north east of Holsworthy and 8.5 miles south of Torrington. The village runs east-west in linear from with the village green, church and the Devils Stone Inn located to the west.

Shebbear is an ancient village with ancient customs! Shebbear was once a Royal Manor held for some time by Harold the last of the Saxons.  The Norman Church of St Michael's and All Angels not only had links with Torre Abbey but is suspected of having a tunnel to the Devils Stone Inn.

Shebbear also appears in the Domesday book with land distributed to the following:

Roald Dubbed - One can only assume he was kinsman of Raoul the Gael, a very powerful Breton Baron, Lord of the Castle of Guader. The term Dubbed may relate to his knighthood. On the other hand, he may be Raoul de Limesi, (see Ralph de Limesey) a powerful Norman who also held lands in Devonshire.
Aveton Gifford Hankford Hemerdon Hollam Huxhill Kimber Lamerton Lobb Lovacott (Shebbear) Monkswell PansonPeters Marland Praunsley Pulham Sigford Train Twigbear Weare Gifford WhitchurchWinscott Winswell Wonford Crockernwell Dockworthy Peeke (in Luffincott) Rutleigh

Shebbear 1765

The Turning of The Devil's Stone

On November the 5th of every year the villagers of Shebbear prepare to turn the Devils stone which is over 6 feet long and weighs in at over a ton.  The stone is not local and no one really knows how it found its way to Shebbear.  The bells are rung at the local church in discord at 8pm which signifies the turning which once complete will ensure the safety of the village for yet another year.