The Devil's Stone - Newington, Kent - Geological Devilish Locations on Waymarking.com

A Devil's stone placed outside the grounds of St Mary's church, Newington. A plaque beside the stone reads:
This historic "Devil's Stone" was
removed from the corner of Church
Lane and placed here A.D. 1936.


"For many hundreds of years, two large prehistoric mud stones stood at the eastern bend of Church Lane. in 1930 the bank there was lowered and the stones were moved. One was broken up and the other was placed at the bottom of Church Lane. In 1935 the stone was moved again, to the entrance of "St Mary's Churchyard", where it remains to his day. The stone has a raised shape upon it, likened to that of a large shoe print which has been named the Devil's Footprint. There are two versions of the tale:

Version 1 -
The Devil was apparently upset by the bellringing at St Mary's, so he decided to get rid of the bells. He put them into a large sack and lept from the top of the tower, landing with great force upon a huge stone. The bells then rolled out of the sack and into the Libbet Stream. Many unsuccessful attempts were made to recover the bells. An old witch who was passing said, four white cows would help to pull the bells free. But as the bells surfaced, someone spoke of a black patch on the nose of one of the cows and the bells fell back into the water and were never seen again.

Version 2 -
The church wardens, in order to save money, thought they could sell the largest bell in order to repair the rest. These unscrupulous gentlemen hauled the bell to the top of the tower one night and were about to lower it when the Devil appeared. He seized the bell, cleared the battlements and landed with great might on a stone. He then threw the bell into the Libbet Stream and disappeared. When the coast was clear, the church wardens attempted to rescue the bell with ropes and grappling irons, but alas the rope broke and the bell fell back into the water. An old witch was passing and said the help of four white oxen was needed. A young urchin watching shouted, "look at the black spot behind the bull's ear!" The rope snapped and the bell was lost forever. Local tradition says the stream still bubbles at the site where the bells met their fate and the Devil Stone emits a spark on being hit by a pebble. Some folk say the stone brought bad luck to the village when it was first moved, only to be resolved when it was repositioned near the church. Senior citizens today recall that as children, the stone was supposed to bring you good luck if you place a finger on the top while walking round it three times."

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Devilish Location: Not listed

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