Arthur Conan Doyle - Hunting the Legend

Hunting the
Legend

"The peasants say it is the Hound of the
Baskervilles calling for its prey..."
&mdash Stapleton, Ch. 7

Arthur Conan Doyle drew upon many sources for his stories. In the case of Grimpen Village and the eponymous mire, treks about Fox Tor Mire, Grimspound, and several local villages fused into a contiguous entity. The Baskerville name itself was lifted from Bertram Robinson's coach driver, Henry Baskerville, and the old man kept a signed copy of the book's original pressing as a sort of recompense.

The hound legend alone derives from a variety of elements. Black hounds, horses, and piglets litter the region's folklore. Patricia Milton points out that Doyle used a similarly grotesque canine earlier in a passage of Micah Clarke, an historical fiction centered on the Monmouth Rebellion. Some also point to a Norfolk legend of a beastly dog called "Black Shuck," which Doyle would have been very likely to have heard while staying in the area.

Perhaps the greatest influence on Doyle's Curse of the Baskervilles was the legend of Richard Cabell, a seventeenth-century squire from West Buckfastleigh. According to myth, Cabell frightened his fellow parishioners with his many acts of violence. One version of the story claims that he once became so enraged that he chased his wife out onto the moor, where he brutally murdered her. Moments later, her faithful black hound attacked and tore out his throat. Another version of the tale explains that Cabell had sold his soul to the Devil, and that a pack of black hounds descended from the open moor on the day of his death, howling for their evil master.

This expedition begins just at the eastern limit of Buckfastleigh on Dartbridge Road. If one begins by walking in the direction of Buckfast, a small footpath appears on the left-hand side of the road a short way ahead, well before the Dartbridge Inn. A fairly inconspicuous signpost directs hikers uphill toward 'The Church.' The path leads past several residences before plunging into a thicker wooded area. On the left lies Higher Kiln Quarry, an abandoned limestone quarry which decades ago unearthed an intricate cave system beneath Buckfastleigh.

In summer months signs advise walkers to beware of bats exiting the caverns around dusk. Flying mammals aside, the water system within supports a rich ecosystem featuring a shrimp-like crustacean found nowhere else in the world. Further, excavations indicate that the area formerly sported a climate similar to that of the Mediterranean today, and was home to prehistoric hippopotamuses. Recently the site has been closed to the public for safety reasons, but the exterior views alone make a worthwhile distraction.

Further up on the hilltop stands Holy Trinity Church, the spire of which breaks from a canopy of tress to intrigue visitors from miles away. This structure dates back to at least the thirteenth century, but recent archaeological finds suggest that another church occupied the site even beforehand. The last two hundred years, however, have brought disaster: lightning, arson, alleged grave-robbing. A fire as recent as 1992 left the building in ruins.

Aside from spectacular hilltop views of the surrounding countryside, including the stately Buckfast Abbey to the northeast, this cemetery holds the infamous Cabell Family crypt, an odd structure on the southern side of the churchyard. Legends tell that upon Cabell's burial, the townsfolk feared so much that he might rise again that they placed a giant slab of stone over his body. Others, fearing that this might not be enough to contain the wicked man, constructed a crypt of stone, enclosed with iron bars. Speculation has it that if someone runs around the crypt seven times and sticks his hand through the bars, then a demon will bite off his fingers.

Don't ask me. I didn't try it.

Some claim that a particular stalactite in the caverns below, called the "Little Man," looks uncannily like a man dressed in seventeenth-century garb. These same people further relate that the formation lies directly below Richard Cabell's tomb. Perhaps sinister forces are at work in the sedimentary deposits?

For as long as the novel has existed, readers have sought a real-life Baskerville Hall, a point of reference for the architecture and unsettling character of the building, down to its dreadful yew alley. Two such candidates lie west-northwest of Buckfastleigh. While Brook Manor was once the estate of the dreadful Cabell, nearby Hayford Hall holds its claim on the grounds of architectural consistency. Both estates match the geographical constraints of the Baskerville Hall site and both are now private residences. This latter fact need not hinder the explorer from getting a solid feel for the environs; the journey from here out extends past these estates and up onto the open moor.

Beyond the church a service road heads left towards the center of town, but the right fork descends into a maze of narrow moor roads, walled in by tall hedges. Keep on Holne Road for about a kilometer and it will merge with a section of the Dartmoor Way. Just beyond where a junction thrusts eastward toward Hockmoor, Holne Road will veer sharply to the left. The Dartmoor Way cuts forward as a footpath into the peaceful Burchette’s Wood, where squirrels chatter in stereo and Holy Brook gurgles below.

After this cozy stretch of forest greenery a tiny foot bridge cuts over the creek and once more onto a narrow section of paved road. If you push forward that road will turn uphill and roughly southwest past several small pastures. This road leads to a point marked by a large stone cross from which moor roads break out in five directions like a clumsily drawn starfish. Turn left and follow the road to the next available right; around the bend a small bridge leads to the personal drive of Brook Manor. On a sunny day this quaint country estate could not possibly be the foreboding hall, but the many chimney stacks rising from the main house do give it the look of a small, keenly guarded fortress.

We resume the quest by turning back onto the road and heading the west, parallel to the small River Mardle. At the streets end, cross over the river and continue west into what appears a dead end. Around the left side of the last estate lies yet another public bridle path. The shady climb is pleasant but steep, so be prepared for a hike. One emerges from this copse of trees into wide field of tall grass, from which the winding paths below appear like veins in the Buckfast valley. This bridleway climbs further and once again connects with the narrow passages of the Dartmoor automotive infrastructure.

A local woman whose dog found me a much unwanted intruder directed me along the road and up onto the moor. From the crest of that nearby hill, she told me, one can some days see as far as the Dorset coast. As with the forest bridle path, this ascent awards the hiker not deterred by strenuous endeavors. A maze of brush filled with wary sheep opens up onto a wide expanse of rolling hills. Granite cairns dot the nearby hilltops and a set of binoculars would make a great addition to one’s pack for this leg of the journey.

Upon returning to the road, the drive way to Hayford Hall cuts out to the left. Close inspection is even more an impossibility here than before, but its location adjacent the wild moor lends the spot some eerie charm. Of course the debate over Baskerville Hall looms unresolved. No evidence, however conclusive, can turn fiction into fact!

The road heads straight into Buckfastleigh, but the walk is a long one. All told this hike might take as many as five hours to complete, but alterations can be made accelerate or decelerate the adventure. Far more than the Fox Tor Mire Circuit, access to an automobile or a bicycle would be advised, though these may limit the scenic options. Bicycles are allowed on public bridle paths, but at least in the instance of the Lakemoor path, steep gradients would make the undertaking rather cumbersome.

[NOTE: Image at left produced from Ordnance Survey's Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.]