The Black Pig at Lydford

Hangin' Judge Jeffreys, the very name was enough to strike fear within the hearts of the most hardened criminals. And no wonder, for the man responsible for the Bloody Assizes believed in justice at its very harshest. Perhaps that is why, although he was never known to have sat in trial at Lydford, his ghost is said to haunt this pretty village a few miles from Brentor.

Casual visitors could never imagine its importance in days gone by. Yet the tiny community was described as Devon's second largest during the reign of the last Saxon king - only Exeter had a greater population. The vast wealth generated by Dartmoor's tin mines meant the village had its own law courts and prison. It's hard to believe now, but it once returned tax receipts as great as the City of London.

So harsh were the verdicts handed down to alleged miscreants, often before they'd had their guilt proved before a visiting judge, that Lydford Law became synonymous with miscarriages of justice. The Tavistock poet William Browne, writing in the 17th century, described it thus:-

I oft have heard of Lydford Law,

That in the morn they hang and draw,

And sit in judgement after...

An old Norman keep, built upon the site of the Saxon earthworks meant to protect the village, found use as Dartmoor's gaol. Here, any unfortunate enough to have earnt the mine-owning aristocracy's ire, were imprisoned. Browne's words were clear enough in providing an insight into conditions there.

They have a castle on a hill,

I took it for an old windmill,

The vanes blown off by weather.

To lie therein one night, is guessed,

Twere better to be stoned or pressed,

Or hanged, now choose you whether.

Lydford Castle is now in the care of English Heritage and is free to visit. It is an ominous place and there are many who say they feel the misery of ancient inmates trapped within its high stone walls when they look around. A place once considered amongst "the most heinous, contagious and detestable places within the realm", it is hardly surprising that the sensitive should find it unpleasant.

It is perhaps also unsurprising that the ghost said to haunt Lydford Castle is Hangin' Judge Jeffreys, whose cruelty prevents him from moving on in peace to the afterlife. What is more odd, and indeed inexplicable, is that he should take the form of a black pig. Yet that is what people say hereabouts, and hence we have the tale of the black pig at Lydford.