Village won't leave stone unturned
While thousands of people across Devon were enjoying firework displays, a small north Devon village was marking Bonfire Night in a very different way. BBC Radio Devon's Pippa Quelch went to Shebbear to find out more.
Residents of Shebbear carry out an ancient ritual each year to fend off the Devil - according to local legend, the only way to keep Satan away is by lifting and turning a big stone, just outside the village's church.
Traditionally it is the bellringers who turn the stone and before they take on the task they ring out a violently discordant peal of bells.
The one tonne lump of rock is known as the Devil's Stone. It is a glacial erratic - not from a local rock formation.
The last time it was not turned on 5 November was during the World War II when such frivolity was frowned on, but after a few days of bad news someone flipped it over anyway.
Supposedly the Devil dropped the stone while passing, before dying of cold in the nearby village of Northlew.
The stone itself is about 6ft x 4ft long and another theory is that it may have been an altar stone brought by a pagan cult, in the way that the Druids brought stones from Wales to Stonehenge.
Once the ritual is complete and the stone has been turned everyone retires to the local pub, fittingly called The Devil's Stone Inn and the village is safe for another year.
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