Devil
The Devil in March
Twelve times round the cross, and hear the knives.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Stepped base of a medieval stone cross by the road
- Legend from
- Told by 19th-century elders
- Tone
- Light-hearted
In March, an old stone cross stands by the road. Walk round it twelve times, children were told, and you'll hear the Devil sharpening his knives.
On the road from March market place towards St Wendreda's church stands the stepped base of an old stone cross. Elderly March people told Enid Porter that the town once tried to build a church near the market, but the Devil, who believed the Fens were his, tore down each day's work every night. At last the townsfolk set up a cross; the holy sign drove the Devil away, but the church was never finished. A March woman's letter adds that children were told to walk twelve times round the top step to hear the Devil sharpening his knives. One local thought the story was invented to explain the cross.