Martinhoe, Barnstaple

The ghost of Sir Robert Chichester is said to roam the countryside near Martinhoe, cursed for his greed and treachery after dying while attempting to rob one of his tenants. His spirit appears as a black dog or drives a flaming carriage pulled by four spectral elephants along the cliff now called Sir Robert’s Path. Local legend tells that Parson Bringwood of Bratton Fleming tried to banish him, forcing the ghost to make ropes of sand and carry them up the cliff, a hopeless task that ended with his spirit dragged to Hell.