Devil's Footprints

Lore & Background

On the night of 8–9 February 1855 and one or two later nights, after a heavy snowfall, a series of hoof-like marks appeared in the snow across Devon and Dorset. The footprints, mostly in a single file, measured about 4 inches long and 3 inches across, spaced between 8 and 16 inches apart. They were reported from more than 30 locations, with a total estimated distance of 40 to 100 miles. The tracks passed straight over houses, rivers, haystacks, and other obstacles, appearing on tops of snow-covered roofs and high walls, and leading up to and exiting drain pipes as small as 4 inches in diameter. The 26 May 1855 issue of Bell's Life in Sydney reprinted a report from the Weekly Dispatch dated 18 February, noting that the superstitious believed the marks were from Satan himself, and that the subject had been discussed from the pulpit.

Reader's Guide

The Devil's Footprints remain a notable unexplained phenomenon in British folklore and Fortean studies. The incident generated numerous hypotheses, including suggestions of a balloon trailing shackles, hopping rodents, escaped kangaroos, badgers, and hoaxes. Mike Dash, in a 1994 paper, concluded that no single source explained all the marks: some were likely hoaxes, some made by common quadrupeds like donkeys and ponies, and some by wood mice, but he admitted the mystery remains. The event's significance lies in its scale and the variety of theories it inspired, as well as the lack of direct evidence beyond a few letters and tracings discovered in the 1950s. Similar anomalous footprints have been reported elsewhere, but none on such a scale.

Did You Know?

• The footprints were reported from more than 30 locations across Devon and a couple in Dorset.
• Some footprints appeared on tops of snow-covered roofs and high walls, and led up to and exited drain pipes as small as 4 inches in diameter.
• The only known documents were found after a 1950 article in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association, leading to a collection of papers belonging to Henry Thomas Ellacombe.
• Mike Dash's 1994 paper concluded that no single source explained all the marks, and the mystery remains.

The Overnight Marks

On the night of 8–9 February 1855, and again over one or two subsequent evenings, heavy snow blanketed the Exe Estuary region of east and south Devon. The next morning, residents discovered rows of hoof-shaped impressions in the white ground. The prints measured roughly four inches long and three inches wide, spaced eight to sixteen inches apart, running predominantly in single file. Witnesses reported them at more than thirty sites across Devon, with a few sightings reaching into Dorset. The cumulative trail was estimated at forty to a hundred miles. What made the marks baffling was their disregard for physical barriers: they crossed rivers, leapt over haystacks, appeared atop snow-laden roofs and narrow walls, and even threaded through drain pipes no wider than four inches. The geographic spread stretched from Exmouth northward to Topsham and across the estuary to Dawlish and Teignmouth, with later accounts pushing the range as far south as Torquay and as distant as Lincolnshire. Because several onlookers compared the shape to a cloven hoof and attributed the tracks to the Devil himself, the event became known as the Devil's Footprints.

A Community in Upheaval

The reaction across Devon was immediate and intense. Superstitious residents declared the marks to be the work of Satan, and the excitement cut across every social class. The subject was even debated from church pulpits, as a Weekly Dispatch reprinted in Bell's Life in Sydney on 26 May 1855 noted. That dispatch described the prints as belonging to "a strange and mysterious animal endowed with the power of ubiquity," since they appeared on rooftops, in walled gardens, and in open fields simultaneously. Observers noted the impressions closely resembled a donkey's shoe, measuring between an inch and a half and two and a half inches across. While some prints appeared cloven, most showed a continuous outline, and the snow in the centre of each impression remained undisturbed, suggesting the maker's foot was concave. The only surviving primary documents surfaced decades later, in 1950, when an article in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association called for further information. This prompted the discovery of papers belonging to Henry Thomas Ellacombe, vicar of Clyst St George in the 1850s, which included letters from friends, a draft letter to The Illustrated London News marked "not for publication," and several tracings of the footprints.

Theories and Skepticism

No single explanation has ever satisfied investigators. Sceptics pointed out that no person could have walked a hundred miles of tracks in a single night, and Joe Nickell later noted that eyewitness descriptions of the prints varied considerably from one observer to the next. In his 1994 Fortean Studies paper, Mike Dash argued that the "hoofmarks" likely had multiple origins: some were deliberate hoaxes, some were the tracks of common quadrupeds like donkeys and ponies, and some could be attributed to wood mice. The rodent theory had been proposed as early as March 1855, when Thomas Fox, a brewer and brick maker from Ballingdon, submitted illustrations to The Illustrated London News showing how a mouse's leap produces a print resembling a cloven hoof. Another theory, advanced by author Geoffrey Household, proposed that an experimental balloon accidentally released from Devonport Dockyard trailed two shackles on its mooring ropes, scarring the snow below. A local man, Major Carter, claimed his grandfather had worked at the dockyard and said the incident was hushed up after the balloon smashed conservatories and windows before landing in Honiton. Critics questioned how a balloon could trace such a random zigzag path without its ropes snagging on trees.

A Mystery That Endures

Despite nearly two centuries of speculation, the Devon hoofmarks remain one of the most persistent unsolved anomalies in British folklore. Direct physical evidence is almost nonexistent; the only known documents surfaced in 1950 when an article in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association solicited further information about the event, prompting the discovery of a collection of papers belonging to Henry Thomas Ellacombe, the vicar of Clyst St George during the 1850s. Among his belongings were letters from friends, including the Reverend G. M. Musgrove of Withycombe Raleigh, a draft letter to The Illustrated London News marked "not for publication," and several apparent tracings of the footprints. In 1890, R. H. Busk published an article in Notes and Queries, extending the known range of sightings to Totnes, Torquay, Weymouth in Dorset, and even Lincolnshire. Mike Dash ultimately collated all available primary and secondary source material into a paper titled "The Devil's Hoofmarks: Source Material on the Great Devon Mystery of 1855," published in Fortean Studies in 1994. While Dash identified probable explanations for some of the tracks, he conceded that none could account for every reported mark, and the mystery endures.