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Folklore of the Vale Nottinghamshire lore from notes submitted by Joe Earp. Leicestershire lore compiled by Bob Trubshaw. The Kinoulton Legend Perched on the hill where Lincoln Cathedral now stands, the Devil watched in alarm at the building of Kinoulton church. As day-by-day another course of stone was laid his anger grew. Finally, he could stand no more and he seized a large stone and with all his might threw it at the building. The stone missed its target by a matter of yards and landed on the north side – the Devils quarter – of the churchyard. The failed sabotage did not deter the builders and the church was completed. The Devil never again tried to demolish it. The original parish church of St Wilfrid, Kinoulton, was built on a hill to the west, well outside the village. Churches built in such inconvenient places usually indicate that they were built on a pre-existing pagan site. The hill in question, overlooks the village to the east and the Roman Fosse Way (A46) to the west. On the southern slope of the hill, close to the modern road, maps indicate the presence of a 'spa' or healing spring. On the north side – the Devils quarter – of the churchyard was a large stone, probably a glacial erratic. Given all of these factors it is reasonable to suspect that the site of the church was a pagan shrine or sanctuary. Quite possibly the stone itself was the focus of rites. St Wilfred's Church was considered to be too remote from the village and by the late 1700s it had fallen into ruin. The roof was removed and it was finally demolished in 1792, shortly after the new red-brick church was built in the village. The Devil's missile was broken up and used for road mending. The Hickling Legend Such tales are known from almost all parts of England. Hickling, less than two miles from Kinoulton, has its own version:- Looking down from his lair on Hickling Standard, the Devil became increasingly angry as he watched the building of the church of St Luke in the village bellow. When at last the church was complete the priest began to ring the newly installed bell. To the Devil, this was the last straw. A plan formed in the Devil's mind, and for weeks he avoided his lair on the hill. On the next night of a full moon, clutching a large boulder, he flew towards the church, intending to drop the stone on the church tower and destroy the offending bell. St Peter, in Heaven, looked down on these events and decided that he must intervene. When the Devil was halfway between the church and Hickling Standard, he reached down and pulled the clouds over the face of the moon. Undeterred, the Devil flew on more determined than ever destroy the bell. When the Devil was close to his target St Peter again reached down into the clouds. This time he pulled the clouds apart and the light of the moon shone straight into the Devil's eyes. With a scream that could be heard for miles, the Devil put his hands up to shield his eyes. In doing so he lost his grip on the stone and down it fell. Thwarted he flew off into the night. Never again did he dare to return to Hickling Standard or to trouble the good christians of the village. The Hickling Stone. Photograph by Joe Earp. The village of Hickling is situated on the south-western border of the Vale of Belvoir, around three miles north-west of the A606 Melton to Nottingham road. The lane into the village – Bridegate Lane – descends from the A606 past the hill known as Hickling Standard – said to be a favourite haunt of the Devil. On the right-hand side of the crossroads between the Bridegate Lane and Main Street is a curious boulder said to be evidence of the Devil's presence. This wedge-shaped stone – around two feet tall, three feet wide and four feet long – is a glacial erratic. In 1848 a Methodist Chapel was built by the crossroads but the stone was deliberately excluded from the church yard. To this day it lies only inches from the enclosing wall. Based on Frank Earp's A–Z of Curious Nottinghamshire (The History Press 2014). Frank Earp at the Hickling Stone. Photograph by Joe Earp. Those who think the Devil dropped too many stones for all the legends to be true might prefer the alternative (but equally unprovable) theory that this stone was placed adjacent to the chapel as a mounting block for horseriders. For an authoritative guide to all the English Devil lore read Jeremy Harte's Cloven Country: The Devil and the English Landscape (Reaktion Books 2024). Shrove Tuesday customs In an overview of 'Pancake Day' customs in Nottinghamshire Ross Parish mentions East Bridgford and Car Colston, though gives few details. Morris dancing and plough plays The Flintham Plough Boys photographed in 1914. Later that year many of them would enlist and be sent to France. In 2014 the Foresters Morris team commemorated the centenary of this photograph by performing the Flintham Plough Play. The script was accidentally rediscovered in 1995 and has been published online. The Foresters Morris and Sword Dancing Club at Flintham in 2014. Left to right: Dave Middleton, Joe Earp, Frank Earp, Ken Bramman, Vic Martin, Barrie Whittamore, Eric Foxley and William Pearce. From the Nottingham Post. Frank Earp second from right. Joe Earp in back row wearing a black hood. Star Stone Three Shire Oak is now considered the landmark at the tripoint of Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. But at one time the landmark was a boulder known as the 'Star Stone'. According to folklore collected by Paul Devereux in the early 1970s it was a meteorite. Clearly not true else there would be a very large crater to the north of Bottesford. Other landmark stones in Leicestershire were said to have had similar extra-terrestial origins. The boulder on the village green at Grimston in the Wreake valley is one of them. That is a glacial erratic. Presumably the now-gone Star Stone was too. Leicestershire lore Roy Palmer in his book Folklore of Leicestershire and Rutland (1st edn Sycamore Press 1985; 2nd edn Tempus 2002) recounts a Bottesford ghost story from about 1850 and ghostly aircraft at RAF Bottesford. He also retells the account of witchcraft at Belvoir Castle. At Eaton allegedly a witch was buried beneath the floor of her house. Her wailing was heard by a later occupant and her children. This lore was published in the Leicester Chronicle of 10 January 1969. Thanks to Andy York for discovering this and Paul Devereux for sharing Andy's notes. At Holwell Mouth a phantom black dog was seen according to David Bell's 1992 book Leicestershire and Rutland Ghosts and Legends. There's folklore associated with several of the wells in the Vale. Near Eastwell is Piper Hole Farm … which takes its name from the legend of a piper’s hole which is identified with a well on the scarp slope of the Harby Hills. Such legends are known throughout England – there is another recorded for Leicestershire at Shepshed, in a wood that is now cut by the M1. Although there are no details for these Leicestershire examples, the usual story is that a piper or fiddler and his dog set off along an underground tunnel. Those on the surface follow his progress by the sound. After a while there is no more music and a few moments later the dog comes back to the surface very frightened. The musician is never seen again. In some debased way, such legends seem to have derived from the belief that wells and other underground cavities are entrances to the Otherworld… From Bob Trubshaw's Little-known Leicestershire and Rutland (2nd edn Heart of Albion 2010) See Fabulous Framland web site for full details. Bibliographical sources for Leicestershire lore in An Index of Leicestershire Lore. Back to top of this page     Back to home page   This website does not gather or store any visitor information. Copyright Bob Trubshaw 2025 No unauthorised copying or reproduction except if all following conditions apply: a: Copy is complete (including this copyright statement). b: No changes are made. c: No charge is made. www.hoap.co.uk/chronicle

Chronicle entries home page what's new? the geology of the Vale the boundaries and rivers of the Vale long, long ago prehistory in the Vale prehistoric boundaries in the Vale north-south prehistoric routeways Romans roads in the Vale Roman settlements in and near the Vale long ago introduction to Anglo-Saxons place-names of the Vale waterborne transport around the sixth century Orston's early church Anglo-Saxon sculpture in the Vale why Orston lost out to Bingham and Bottesford what the Normans did for the Vale Granby's importance in 1086 Granby's lost castle the Vale's watermills in 1086 Romanesque sculpture in the Vale St Remigius why Bottesford is in Leicestershire the Vale in medieval times medieval gargoyles of the Vale Eastwell's chancel screen St Ethelburga's church other early saints Elston's old chapel Muston and Long Clawson saltways of the Vale the Vale's medieval tile collection the Vale in Tudor times Dissolution in the Vale not that long ago the Vale in the C17th the 'great and the good' of the Vale Bottesford's effigies 'wicked practice and sorcerye' the whales on the Whalley memorial Car Colston's bigoted GP cum JP the Vale's very own regicide Wiverton Hall five rare C17th fonts in the Vale pinfolds and pounds in the Vale dovecotes in the Vale the Vale in the C18th turnpiking the Vale gravestones and C18th trade routes goodbye 'Belvoir Angels' C18th gravestone carvers in the Vale Daffy's Elixir the Marquess of Granby Stilton from the Vale springs and spas of the Vale outstanding organs in the Vale Grantham canal changes in the Vale's agriculture since 1800 Eastwell's recusant priest house and chapel Colston Bassett's ruined church seems like yesterday windmills in the Vale stained glass in the Vale village life in the southern Vale 1850 to 1880 folklore of the Vale Flintham museum lacemaking in the Vale gypsum pits in the Vale brick and tile works in the Vale ironstone quarrying in the Vale ironstone railways ironstone quarries of Leicestershire (YouTube video) The Vale's railway stations Orston's famous architect Mothers Union banners of the Vale redundant telephone exchanges in the Vale WWII airfields and pillboxes in the Vale the Vale in 1944 location shooting at Belvoir Castle Screveton's giants researching and writing local history the Vale as a verb getting started free advice from 2005 asking curious questions (YouTube video) local history groups in and around the Vale Aslockton (Cranmer LHG) Bingham Heritage Trails Association Bottesford Eastwell Harby Harlaxton Hickling Redmile archive Belvoir Villages History and Memories Group Belvoir Angel Society Grantham Canal Society you may also be interested in free PDFs written by Bob Trubshaw Earliest Churches in Nottinghamshire How Anglo-Saxons Found Their Way Anglo-Saxon Leicestershire Conversations in Churchyards Little-known Leicestershire and Rutland Bob Trubshaw's YouTube channel Introduction to medieval carvings Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque carvings How Anglo-Saxons found their way Anglo-Saxon shrines at fords Meetings at triangles Rota's Land and Franni's Land Reading Romanesque fonts Church and manor The significances of square headdresses Early churches and waterborne trade Charnwood slate gravestones and C18th trade routes Ironstone quarries of Leicestershire Roman roads in north-east Leicestershire Salt ways in Leicestershire Why Melton Mowbray needed to called 'middle town' Evolving Anglo-Saxon agriculture Nottinghamshire's earliest churches Ploughs not piety? Economic regeneration in the C7th Were Anglo-Saxon weaving huts women-only places? Barrowby Until Now website Rutland Village by Village website Sepulchral Effigies of Leicestershire and Rutland