This is probably one of a number of crosses that marks the route of the Monks? Path. This is the ancient name given to the track that links the Buckfast Abbey with those at Tavistock and Buckland. It is 4 feet 5 inches (1.35 metres) tall. The head appears to be original, but replacements for the shaft and probably the socket stone were found at the time the cross was repaired and reset. It is thought that the cross once stood on the banks of the nearby Crazywell Pool. The pool was excavated by tinners and may well have been used by them as a reservoir. Crazywell Pool is surrounded by superstition. It was thought that it was bottomless and that the water level rose and fell with the tides at Plymouth. Another superstition is that, during the middle-ages, the pool was haunted by the Witch of Sheepstor who used to give her clients a lot of bad advice. Other superstitions include the waters calling out at dusk the name of the next Walkhampton parishioner to die. Also, that at midnight on Midsummer?s Eve you can see the face of the next parishioner to die in the waters of the pool. In the background Burrator reservoir can be seen.

Boddy Collection