Storyteller: The mad monk of Haldon Hill

David Phillips, tales from the storyteller:

If you ever fancy a walk with a difference, why not try the Haldon Hills? In particular, Little Haldon.

You can access this by parking near Teignmouth golf course, and then follow the footpath sign that takes you down the slope towards Lidwell Farm.

On the way, you come to some overgrown woodland. If you are brave enough to venture among the trees, you will come across a patch of boggy ground, fenced off by some black railings, containing the gable end of an old building.

This wall is all that remains of Lidwell Chapel, once home to the murderous Mad Monk of Haldon Hill, and if you stay awhile at this most atmospheric of spots, you might well encounter the ghost of the monk himself, or even his many victims.

I’ve visited this site on many occasions, I’ve still to experience any spirits there, but each time I go the ground seems boggier than before, and there is less to see, as nature gradually reclaims the land around it.

The ground is wet underfoot due to the nearby spring, known as Lady Well, which gives the name Lidwell to the chapel and farm. It is said that it was into this well the monk disposed of his victims, and where his own fate was sealed.

Although his story ends here, his unchristian ways were first recorded at another wayside chapel, up on Dartmoor, in the little village of Gidleigh, just outside of Chagford. It was known as Chapel of La Wallen, meaning little walled field, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

It was built during the 1200s, and used by nomadic monks, whose purpose it was to maintain the building, while saying daily masses for the benefit of the local population.

The monk in question was one Robert de Middlecott, who came under the watchful eye of the then Bishop of Exeter, John Grandison, and it is the archives of this particular bishop that record the misdeeds of our Mad Monk.

They state that on March 28, 1328, he did mistreat Agnes, the daughter of Roger the Miller, causing the death of her unborn child. Her father demanded justice but before he could be apprehended, the monk left the area, causing unrest among the locals, who took it upon themselves to destroy the little chapel, to show no other unholy men would be welcome among them.

It is in this dilapidated state that it can be viewed today, on the edge of a field, just outside of Gidleigh.

No-one knows why he wanted to harm Agnes, some suggested the child might have been his, and he wanted to remove the evidence of his crime against his calling.

He was eventually captured and brought to trial, after a spate of robberies in the Teignmouth area, the result of his attempts to feed himself while on the run.

The monk was still able to escape justice, for the charges against him were just those of the thefts, no mention was made of the death of an unborn child, some even said he knew the judge, and at the trial not enough evidence was brought against him so he was released, being allowed to set up residence in Lidwell Chapel on Little Haldon Hill.

It was there that his reign as the Mad Monk truly began.

He built himself a reputation among his new parish as that of a most genial host, welcoming stray travellers under his roof for a hot meal and a bed for the night.

After they had eaten, and retired to their room, the monk sneaked in and murdered them in their sleep, disposing of the body and their belongings down the well.

He would keep anything of value, stashing it beneath the chapel altar.

The monk got away with his dastardly crimes for quite some time, the locals assuming the travellers had just gone on their way, and not been disappeared.

Then, one night, he bit off more than he could chew, for his house guest was a burly sailor following the Mariners' Way to his next ship.

Having fed him, and sent him off to bed, the monk snuck into his room thinking he was fast asleep, but he wasn’t.

Awoken by the feeble attempts to strangle him, the sailor fought back and, in the ensuing struggle, the monk was thrown down his own well.

Here versions as to what happened next differ, some say he drowned there, rotting alongside the corpses of his tragic victims. The other version says the sailor went for help, rescuing the murderous monk, and uncovering his dark deeds, when the bodies were also dredged up.

The discovery of the stash of wealth beneath the altar was another nail in his coffin, for when he came to trial, the evidence this time was irrefutable, and he was finally sent to the gallows for his many crimes.

Whatever his fate, the Mad Monk of Haldon was never heard of again, after 1329, with only his ghost haunting the chapel to show he was ever there.