Devil’s Stone Shebbear is a one-night custom in north Devon, held every 5 November at 8pm, when a crowd of bellringers and villagers heave a boulder over with crowbars to flush the Devil out.
On 5 November, Britain looks up at fireworks. In Shebbear, a village in north Devon, they look down at a rock.
The popular story says Bonfire Night is about Guy Fawkes. Shebbear has a different reason to gather on the same date, and nobody in the village claims to know the full answer. A boulder of roughly one ton sits at the edge of the square, and once a year it is turned by hand with iron bars under the church bells.
This year the date falls on Thursday 5 November, and it costs nothing to watch.
Region: Shebbear, near Great Torrington, north Devon
Best for: Folklore hunters, photographers, anyone tired of fireworks displays
Getting there: Shebbear, EX21 5RU. Most visitors drive
Time needed: 2 to 3 hours including the pub before the ceremony
Devil’s Stone Shebbear: What Actually Happens
The ceremony starts at 8pm on 5 November, even when the date lands on a Sunday, according to Calendar Customs. It is brief. The turning itself takes a few minutes, though the evening around it runs longer.
Bellringers do the work with crowbars. In the past, the ringers were locals. The Post reported there were no active bellringers living in the village, so ringers come from far and wide, alongside former local ringers, to take their turn on the bars.
Stand close, and you hear the scrape first. Iron on stone is a flat, dry sound, and in November air it carries across the square. Then comes a grunt of effort, then the thud of the stone landing on its other side.
Arrive by 7pm. The square is small, and by the time the bars come out the front rows are full. Bring a torch for the walk back to your car, because country lanes are dark in November.
Where to Stay: The Devil’s Stone Inn has five en-suite guest rooms and breakfast made with local produce. Book by phone on 01409 281210 or email thedevilsstoneinn@gmail.com, and book early for 5 November.
Worth Knowing: The village holds the date firmly. Calendar Customs says the ceremony goes ahead on 5 November even when it falls on a Sunday.
The Stone Itself
Nobody agrees on its weight. The Post calls it a one-ton block measuring six feet by four. The North Devon Gazette says it weighs over 500 kilograms. The Megalithic Portal puts it at 500 to 700 kilograms. Treat any figure as an estimate.
What sources do agree on is that it does not belong here. The Gazette says the stone is not naturally found in the region. The Megalithic Portal describes it as a conglomerate of orthoquartzite, a sedimentary rock in which quartz grains are set in a matrix, and says it is comparable to the sarsen stones of Salisbury Plain. It dates, says the same source, to the Tertiary period, between 5 and 50 million years ago.
A geologist would say the stone was carried here by natural forces. The village says something simpler.
It sits at the western end of the square, just outside the churchyard, according to the Megalithic Portal, which places St Michael’s church about 50 metres away. Some accounts say it sits outside the pub. In a village this size, both can be true.
The square is flat and paved. There is no walk to do here; the stone is a thirty-second stroll from wherever you park. Come back in daylight on the 6th and look at it with nobody around. It looks like an ordinary lump of rock, and that is the point.
Where to Stay: The Devil’s Stone Inn takes its name from the stone, and its own site says it has more than 400 years of history. It is dog-friendly and welcomes walkers.
Worth Knowing: The Megalithic Portal says the stone may once have been a foundation stone of Henscott Church, though that remains unconfirmed.
The Legend and the Missing Answer
The story goes like this. The Devil was cast out of heaven by the archangel Michael. Michael threw a stone at him, and the Devil was pinned beneath Shebbear. The Megalithic Portal records that version, with the Devil trapped under the square.
If he is under there, the turning is the solution. Flip the stone each year, goes the logic, and you flush him out of his hiding place before he gets comfortable. The North Devon Gazette quotes the tradition as “to flush the Devil out from his possible hiding place”, with failure to turn it said to threaten next year’s crops.
A rival story says the Devil dropped it himself while fleeing from nearby Northlew, trying to escape the cold. Both versions put a stone in the Devil’s hands, and both make the village its guardian.
Ask the people who do the turning, and you get honesty. The Post quotes Ronald Ackland, who took part for 20 years after his father’s 40, saying: “Everybody thinks they know why we do it, but I’ll tell you the truth, nobody really does.” The article adds that the origin was already uncertain 150 years ago.
That admission is the best detail in the whole tradition. A custom with a clear explanation can be written down and forgotten. This one survives because it has none.
Where to Stay: The Devil’s Stone Inn is named for the stone and sits in the same village. It is closed on Tuesdays, so check the opening days before you plan a midweek stay.
Worth Knowing: According to Calendar Customs, the custom continued through the pandemic lockdowns.
Why 5 November, and the 1939 Story
The date looks like a gift from the Gunpowder Plot. The Megalithic Portal offers a different reading: the ceremony probably began on 1 November, the old Celtic Samhain, and moved to the 5th after 1605. That is a theory, not a record, and no document I could find pins down when the shift happened.
If you want the Scottish version of the same fire-and-dark season, read our guide to Samhuinn in Edinburgh. If you want a Devon custom that turns into a bonfire, see Hatherleigh Tar Barrels to see how another Devon village handles the same night.
Then there is the 1939 claim. Local tradition, as recorded by the Megalithic Portal, holds that the ritual was not performed in 1939, the year the Second World War began. Treat it as a story rather than fact. The Portal presents it as a local belief, and I found no second source confirming that the ceremony was skipped.
The story persists because it fits. A village that has turned a stone for centuries will happily tell you what happens when they stop.
Where to Stay: The Devil’s Stone Inn serves food from about 6pm to 8pm on weekdays, which makes it a dinner stop before the 8pm turning.
Worth Knowing: Rye Bonfire Night is the opposite extreme, with torches, processions and fire. Shebbear needs none of it.
St Michael’s Church, Shebbear
The church stands beside the square, and it is a ten-minute walk before the ceremony. It is Grade II* listed, designated on 4 October 1960, according to British Listed Buildings, which reproduces the official record. The listing gives the main building periods as Norman, 14th and 15th centuries, with a renovation between 1875 and 1892.
Look at the south doorway first. The listing calls it a very fine Norman doorway with three orders of billet, beak-head and zig-zag mouldings. These are carved stone patterns that Norman masons used to frame a door, and in daylight the beak-heads, carved bird-like faces, are easy to spot.
Inside, the listing singles out a richly carved Jacobean five-sided pulpit and a medieval stone effigy of a lady reputed to be the Lady of Ladford. Nobody agrees on who she was, which fits the village.
On a cold November evening, the stone floor holds the chill, and the oak of the pulpit smells of old wax. If the church is open before the ceremony, stand in the nave and listen for the ringers heading up to the tower.
The church is dedicated to St Michael, the same archangel who threw the stone in the legend. That match is either coincidence or the plot, and you can decide which.
Where to Stay: The Devil’s Stone Inn has five restored rooms, numbered 4 to 8 on its website, in the village beside the church.
Worth Knowing: The listing record says the nave and chancel have Norman origins, while the south aisle and porch were added in the 14th century.
Great Torrington and the 1646 Explosion
If you stay the night, spend the next day in Great Torrington. The town has a brutal Civil War story, one most visitors never hear.
The Battle of Torrington took place in February 1646 between Sir Thomas Fairfax’s Parliamentarians and Sir Ralph Hopton’s Royalists, according to Torrington 1646, which dates it to 16 February. Great Torrington’s heritage trail records what happened next: a stray spark lit a store of 80 barrels of gunpowder in St Michael’s Church, killing as many as 200 prisoners locked inside and blowing off the roof.
The Royalists retreated into Cornwall. Parliamentary forces then largely destroyed the church and castle so the town could not be fortified again. Torrington’s own St Michael shares the same dedication as Shebbear’s, making the link between the two worth a pause.
For a gentle walk, take the Tarka Trail. The Great Torrington Town Council says the local section follows a railway that ran from 1872 until closure in 1965. It runs 5.3 miles north to Bideford, crossing the River Torridge, and the old station a mile from town has operated as the Puffing Billy pub and café since 1984. The trail follows a former railway line, so it is flat and suitable for most walkers. Allow about two hours one way at an easy pace.
Where to Stay: The Devil’s Stone Inn is the base I can verify for this trip. I did not find a currently confirmed hotel in Great Torrington, so check availability there separately.
Worth Knowing: The Tarka Trail opened in May 1992 and forms a 180-mile figure-of-eight centred on Barnstaple.
RHS Rosemoor and Dartington Crystal
Both sit at Great Torrington, and both make a better second day than a rainy beach.
RHS Garden Rosemoor is open daily from 10am to 5pm, with last entry at 4pm, and closes only on Christmas Day. In autumn, expect weekday saver tickets at £13.60 and weekend off-peak at £15.70 if you book online. Dogs are allowed Monday to Wednesday. Paths are mixed, with some slopes, so wear shoes you don’t mind getting muddy.
Dartington Crystal is on Linden Close, EX38 7AN. The visitor centre is free, and a factory ticket is £5. Factory tours run on weekdays only, in the windows 9:15 to 10:15, 12:00 to 13:15 and 14:00 to 15:15. The factory is closed on Sundays. In the hot shop you hear the roar of the furnace before you see it, then the quiet tap of tools on glass.
Check both sites before you drive, because opening details change.
Where to Stay: The Devil’s Stone Inn is the stay I can confirm for this route; ring ahead and book for the week of 5 November.
Worth Knowing: Dartington’s own page says wheelchair users cannot access the factory because of stairs, though the shop, café and visitor centre are accessible.
Practical Tips
- The turning is on Thursday 5 November 2026 at 8pm. The Devil’s Stone Inn opens at 5pm that evening and serves food from roughly 6pm to 8pm on weekdays.
- Arrive by 7pm. The square is small, so get a spot early.
- Bring a torch and wet-weather clothes. The ceremony is outdoors, and country lanes are dark in November.
- Use the AllTrails app for the Tarka Trail, and check the forecast before you set off.
- Phone the inn on 01409 281210 to book a table or a room. It is closed on Tuesdays.
- Park early and walk in; no parking plan is published for the evening.
Responsible Visiting
Stay behind the people working. The bars are heavy iron, and a stone of this size can trap a foot. Keep children and dogs well back, and do not climb on the stone afterwards.
Reader Q&A
When is the Turning of the Devil’s Stone in 2026?
Thursday 5 November 2026 at 8pm in Shebbear, Devon. It is held on 5 November every year, including when the date falls on a Sunday.
Is the Devil’s Stone ceremony free?
Yes. It takes place in the village square, and there is no ticket. Plan to eat at the inn if you want to be warm beforehand.
How heavy is the Devil’s Stone?
Sources disagree. The North Devon Gazette says over 500 kilograms, the Megalithic Portal says 500 to 700 kilograms, and The Post says one ton.
Why do they turn the stone?
The legend says the stone pins the Devil beneath the village, and turning it frees him. The people who turn it say nobody really knows the reason.
Where does the stone come from?
The North Devon Gazette says it is not native to the region. The Megalithic Portal describes it as a conglomerate orthoquartzite.
Can I stay in Shebbear?
Yes. The Devil’s Stone Inn has five en-suite rooms, and you book by phone or email. It is closed on Tuesdays.
Where to Stay
The Devil’s Stone Inn, Shebbear. Five en-suite rooms, local breakfast, dog-friendly, on the square beside the stone. Book on 01409 281210.
When the crowd drifts back to the pub, the stone lies on its other side until next year.
