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Chanctonbury Ring

South Downs, West Sussex

Run around it seven times at midnight and the Devil will appear.

Chanctonbury Ring is an Iron Age hill fort crowned by a ring of beech trees, first planted in 1760. Legend says that if you run around it seven times at midnight, the Devil will appear and offer you a bowl of soup or porridge.

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When
Legend
Where
50.8960, -0.3810
Group
Legends

Visiting

On the South Downs Way. A steep climb from Washington.

Cover of UFO Cases of Britain by Cale Mills
From the book

UFO Cases of Britain

By the time ufologists turned their attention to Chanctonbury Ring, it already carried a long folklore of the uncanny, tales of the devil appearing if one ran around the ring seven times at midnight, reports of disorientation and unease among walkers, and a general local reputation as one of the more unsettling ancient sites in the South of England.

Fifty-four real and closely examined British UFO cases, weighed with honesty rather than hype. From Rendlesham Forest, the best-documented UFO case the United Kingdom has ever produced, to the Berwyn Mountains, the Broad Haven schoolchildren, the Calvine photograph and the Bonnybridge hotspot, each case sets out what was seen, who saw it and what the explanations are.

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