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The
Legend of Brentnor Church
The
giants were all dead and the witches had been driven into Wales,
by the friends of Bowerman, but one evil genius still remained.
Satan still lingered on the moor.
This
is what is believed to have happened...
A
rich merchant ship, the Virtue, was laden with silks and spices
from the East.
The
devil, which had had no recent prey, concluded to wreck the great
Vessel. That night, Satan created a tempestuous storm.
A rich
merchant by the name of Old Hugh prayed to his patron Saint, St.
Michael, to blow the ship off course of the rocks which was surely
to send them to their watery grave.
The
devil was cackling, totally in control, when the ship was safely
blown off course. This enraged the devil.
As
soon as Old Hugh set foot ashore, he built a church as a tribute
to St. Michael on Brentor.
That
very night, Satan passed over and was infuriated at what was happening,
so scattered the building materials to the bottom of the tor.
The
next morning, Old Hugh was dismayed, but carried the stones back
to the top of the tor.
Each
night, Satan relentlessly hurled the building materials back to
the foot of the hill and every morning, it was the same scene, blocks
scattered everywhere.
After
a few weeks, St Michael, realising what was happening, stood guard
at the half finished chapel.
That
night, when the Devil came to the tor, just as he had said, St Michael
was there, and on seeing his old adversary -the Devil - fled, and
St Michael with his pure heart, hurled a gargantuous granite boulder,
which caught Satan's heel, causing him to tumble to certain fatality
at the foot of the tor and die.
This
might just be a legend, but the church still stands today, though
the smallest on the moor, because Old Hugh had wasted a lot of his
money in his tussle with the devil.
And
on a dark night some people say that St. Michael can still be seen
standing, guarding the church just in case Satan decides to come
back…
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