The Museum of Dartmoor Life is calling on residents to help co-curate a new exhibition, set to open next year, about myths and magic on the moor.
The museum in Okehampton is asking the local Dartmoor community to share their stories, objects and superstitions with it for a new “Magic and Myth” exhibition, as it looks to tell these tales and investigate why they exist and how they stay relevant today.
Manager and curator at the museum Kristy Turner said: “Together we can create a fabulous exhibition. Locals and our visitors are so interested in the ancient rituals of Dartmoor and the stories behind the many fabulous myths that exist such as Lady Howard’s Ghost and the Hairy Hands.
“Our farmers carried out many pagan traditions and still do today such as wassailing. Old Crockern assisted with the Right to Roam fight this year and we know Dartmoor had many wise women and cunning men in the past who helped their local communities. Today these folk would be called midwives or herbalists, but then they lived solitary lives, afraid of what may happen to them and yet they still followed their calling. “I can not wait to hear from people to share their stories of Magic and Myth on Dartmoor.”
Some of the old Dartmoor myths and superstiitions include witchcraft and legends, piskies, hauntings, black dogs and the even the Devil.
Old Crockern is the guardian spirit of Dartmoor and, according to the legends, rides out across the moor on a skeletal horse, protecting the land.Old Crockern was called upon by modern day Right to Roam campaigners who staged several protests at the beginning of the year against a court ruling that banned the practice of wild camping over large stretches of the moor.
Major Dartmoor landowner Alexander Darwall had argued that the right to wild camp and leave no trace had never existed and, in January, a High Court judge ruled in his favour.
Mr Darwall later said he would allow wild camping but only in certain areas of his land and for a fee agreed with the park authority.However, Dartmoor National Park Authority has now successfully overturned the ban and the right to roam has returned.
Dartmoor is the only place in England and Wales where the right to wild camp remains.
To get involved, please contact Kristy Turner at [email protected]. Anyone interested can contact her in complete confidence.