Did the Devil visit East Devon in February 1855? There are
still some people today who think that this is the only possible explanation.
On the morning of 9th February, after a two-inch fall of
snow and a severe frost, people came out of their houses to find strange
footmarks leading across the frozen countryside in single file. The marks,
resembling those of a donkey’s hooves, were in a single line with each print 8
inches apart, one in front of the other. They certainly looked as though they
have been made by a two-legged as opposed to a four-legged animal.
The trail was on both sides of the estuary of the River Exe,
for a distance of as much as 100 miles. It zigzagged about, leading through
gardens, over gates, haystacks, walls and roofs. Local people reported seeing
the prints in some very strange places, such as under a gooseberry bush and
through a 6-inch pipe. When dogs were brought in to investigate a thicket
through which the trail passed, they retreated, howling in terror.
As might be expected, the event was widely reported and
several newspapers made careful investigations. Attempts to reach a logical
conclusion as to the cause were not helped by the differing descriptions and
drawings supplied by witnesses.
It was soon revealed that the trail was not made in a single
night but over several. It also became clear that the footmarks were not
consistent along the whole length of the trail. In places it looked as though
they might have been made by large birds, particularly those prints seen on
rooftops.
Many suggestions were made to explain how the footmarks on
the ground could have been made. Although most people thought that they looked
as though they had been made by a donkey, others said that badgers, otters, cranes
and even mountain wildcats were responsible. One amateur naturalist even
thought that the prints most closely resembled those of a kangaroo!
It was the fact that the prints were clearly those of a
cloven hoof that gave rise to the notion that the Devil himself had visited
East Devon. At Woodbury they led up to the church door and looked as though
they had been made by a hot iron. The work of a practical joker could not
therefore be discounted, at least at this location.
Whatever the cause of this strange phenomenon, many local
people refused to leave home after sunset for a long time afterwards. They, at
least, were convinced that the Devil had singled out Devon for his special
attention.
© John Welford
