Skip to main content
Discovery Map Map icon
Discovery Map Map icon

Five spooky South Downs spots to explore



Five spooky South Downs spots to explore

October 28, 2016

If the shape of the land shapes our myths and legends it’s no wonder that the South Downs hills, littered with ancient flint mines, barrows and hill forts, have inspired such a rich folklore.

Here are five of our favourite places to let your imaginations run wild this Hallowe’en.

Chanctonbury Ring SunsetChanctonbury Ring is reputed to be one of the most haunted locations on the South Downs. The beech trees that circle the ring were first planted in 1760. But long before it was the site of Bronze and Iron Age forts and a Roman temple. According to local stories, walking widdershins (anti clockwise) seven times round the ring will summon the Devil, ready to offer you a bowl of milk, soup or porridge in exchange for your soul.

Kingley ValeWho or what lies beneath Kingley Vale? Tales of hauntings in the dark and silent grove of ancient yews will come as no surprise to those who know this spot. But are the ghosts marauding Viking warriors, left to rot until the trees grew over their bodies, or do the gnarled trees take human form by moonlight?

STrundle Hilltories of the Trundle, an Iron Age hillfort near Chichester, tell of a golden calf, protected by the devil. Those who try to find this treasure are thwarted: no sooner have they sight of the calf it would disappear in a clap of thunder. there would be a clap of thunder and the calf would disappear.

The Downs Past and PresentOne local legend claims that the Long Man of Wilmington is a memorial outlining the figure of a giant from Windover Hill who fell and broke his neck. Another talks of a fight between the Long Man of Wilmington and another giant from Firle Beacon, which ended in the death of the tallest man to have ever lived in England.

A foggy Devil's Dyke at sunset by Frances Valdes was shortlisted in the South Downs National Park Photo Competition 2015-16. "We were hoping that the mist would clear, so we could fly our paragliders. Instead, as the sun began to set, the mist rolled further up this hill until it engulfed the Dyke. The sun was setting through the mist, and the colours were wonderful. I saw the silhouettes in the dip in the path. They were only visible for a short period, as the mist ebbed and flowed."Devils Dyke is said to have been dug by the Devil, enraged by the Christian conversion of pagan Sussex. He swore to split the Downs and let the sea in to drown the folk and their churches. His furious digging sent clods of earth flying in all directions to form Chanctonbury, Cissbury, Rackham Hill and Mount Caburn.

But he was foiled by an old woman who lit a lamp at her window, or angered a rooster causing it to crow, tricking him into thinking that the Sun was rising. He left his trench unfinished and threw the clast lump of earth over his shoulder into the sea, forming the Isle of Wight.

Find more about myths and legends of the South Downs