Crock of Gold

Here is another of those brilliant Dartmoor legends. The truth about the Crock of Gold is that it is likely to have been a cist which held the cremated remains of a local of the area. However the legend is that it held gold guineas of a dead chieftain and the local folk had heard of this tale and told the story in the local inn. A resident of Royal Hill, Luke Mudge was a net maker for the local rabbit warrens, he made little money in his trade but knew of the Crock of Gold, the folklore was that if you robbed a cist then the evil curse would strike you. Luke however had an accident with boiling water making his hand unusable for making nets. His thirst for the gold grew and one night he took an iron bar to the cap stone and removed it. He put his hand in and found nothing but broken pottery!! Then the clouds gathered and plunged the Royal Hill site into darkness, all of a sudden the capstone began to move, crushing Luke’s hand and trapping him for days. He ended up in hospital and then the workhouse in Tavistock, the locals in the inn re-telling his tale for years to come! As it is the Crock of Gold is a fine cist with great views on a clear day. It is not as it says on the OS map to the north of the path, but to the south about 10 metres from the track.