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Devon has probably got more ghosts than any other county in England.
Berry Pomeroy castle was started to be built in the 14th century and has several ghosts. One story says that a daughter of the castle and her secret lover, who happened to be an enemy of the family, were found in each others arms one night by her brother. He killed them both and now they are destined to haunt the castle ruins for ever.
A phantom sow and her piglets have been seen on Merripit Hill. They are going to Cator Gate, near Widdecombe where, so they have heard, food is waiting for them in the form of a dead horse. But when they arrive there the horse has already been eaten, and so, thin as they are they wander slowly back, they dissolve into the mist and disappear.
Phantom horsemen have been seen on Hunters Tor, Lustleigh Cleave. The riders wore medieval costume and their horses were brightly decorated. The two people who saw this followed on their own mounts until the group were hidden by a stone wall. When the witnesses reached it the other riders had vanished and an hours search showed no trace of them. The only hoof-prints in the soft ground were the ones made by their own animals.
The horsemen could be the Sheriff of Devon and 12 of his knights who were ordered by the king in 1240 to ride around the boundaries of the county to 'hold' them.
Okehampton Castle was part of the Fitzford estates, home to Lady Mary Howard who has been described as a wicked woman who married for money and then murdered all of her husbands and two of her children. She was wed four times, firstly at 12 years old and she outlived all her husbands. In death she is condemned to travel nightly between Tavistock and Okehampton Castle, to pluck a blade of grass, in a coach made of human bones from her victims, their skulls adorning the corners and the top. The coach is preceded by a huge black dog with one flaming eye in the middle of its forehead. Her punishment will cease when the grass has all been picked.
Okehampton Castle was started in the 11th century and a remarkable amount is still standing.
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At Buckfastleigh the ruins of the parish church, which can only be reached by climbing 196 steps, stand next to the tomb of a wicked man's grave. It is said that Richard Cabell sold his soul to the Devil and he was so wicked that when he died he was buried under a huge stone slab with a little house-like structure built above this to keep him in. His crimes included 'forcing his attentions' on the local maidens. While on his death bed in 1677 the hell-hounds howled around the house, waiting to escort his soul to the Devil. On a night in early July, his headless ghost together with a pack of wisht hounds ride up the drive of his old home.
About half a mile from Tavistock there was a haunted farm called Down House. The family who lived there knew the time that the ghost would make its appearance, and made sure they were in bed before it came. One night however one of the children was very ill and wanted a drink of water. When mother went to pour it from the pitcher the child complained that he wanted it direct from the pump. Obviously the mother was very worried about bumping into the ghost but eventually decided the child's need were more important and she went to fetch the water. As she went she said, "In the name of God I will go down." Walking downstairs she perceived a shadow, and then she heard footsteps, and when she came to the pump she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw a tall man there. Summoning all her courage she said, "In the name of God, why troublest me?"
The ghost replied, "It is well for thee that thou hast spoken to me in the name of God, this being the last time allotted for me to trouble this world, or else I should have injured thee. Now do as I tell thee, and be not afraid. Come with me and I will direct thee to a something which will remove this pump: under it is a concealed treasure."
The pump was accordingly removed, and under it lay a great deal of money. She decided to take the treasure and stock her farm with it. And the spirit told her that if ever any person molested or deprived her of her property, he should suffer well for it. He then ordered her to go give the water to her child, who, in reward for her courage and her trust in God, should recover. The cock crowed; directly the figure dwindled again to a shadow, ascended through the air, and she watched till he soon became a small bright cloud.
