A collection of walks, discoveries, insights and pictures of exploring Dartmoor National Park
February 10, 2025
Quintin’s Graveyard and Lock’s Cross
This post explores two locations near Uphill Farm within the Widecombe-in-the-Moor parish where there is documentary evidence from the 1960s and 1970s where there were three possible suicide burials at two locations, namely Quintin’s Graveyard and Lock’s Cross. To the knowledge of the author there has never been any report or reports of any excavation at either location to prove or disprove the existence of any internment. Nor have there been any stories of ghostly encounters at or around the area of either location.
The documentary evidence may well have just been as result of local folklore and indeed there were no suicides or deaths at these locations. If we consider the stories of Kitty Jay or George Stephens where there suicide’s resulted in internments at a parish boundary (Widecombe) in the case of Kitty Jay or near the extremities of the parish (Peter Tavy) in the case of Stephens, neither of these two locations (Quintin’s Graveyard and Lock’s Cross) are like this. Suicides historically, were not allowed to be buried in consecrated ground, as it was thought their spirits remained earthbound and superstitions were that, if the body was buried at the parish limits, preferably at crossroads, the spirit would be unable to find its way back to its former haunts and so would not be able to bother anyone.
Quintin’s Graveyard and Lock’s Cross do lie at crossroads, the former being between the lane and Uphill Farm and the latter comprising the joining of five lanes, which is a similarity with the Kitty Jay and George Stephens suicide’s. This post considers the documentary evidence from the 1960s and 1970s and the author will leave it to the reader to conclude for themselves as to whether they believe these stories are part of Dartmoor folklore or whether these unfortunate suicide’s actually did take place.
Bibliography
Hermon French (1963) Field Names in Widecombe-in-the-Moor – Transactions of the Devonshire Association, Vol. XCV. Torquay: The Devonshire Press.
M. Beeson and M. Masterman (1979) An Archaeological Survey of Enclosed Land in Widecombe-In-The-Moor Parish, (Vol IV, 858) Uphill Estate Report
Annotated Tithe Map showing the historic Field Names around Uphill in the parish of Widecombe in the Moor. Quinton’s Close (note spelling with an ‘o’ not a second ‘i’) and Locks Close, being the prominent field names adjacent to two locations (Quintin’s Graveyard and Lock’s Cross) of three possible suicides In the Transactions of the Devonshire Association (TDA), Vol. XCV. Torquay by The Devonshire Press, dated 1963 there is a 12 page article (pages 156 to 167) by Hermon French, which provides an interpretation of Field Names within the Widecombe-in-the-Moor parish. It is these interpretations which have been used as the basis for much of the information in this post.Extract of the Hermon French article (Page 165 in the 1963 TDA) suggesting that the field Quintin’s (Quinton’s) Close derives its name from Quintin’s Graveyard. French intimates that there was a suicide buried at Quintin’s Graveyard with another buried suicide at Lock’s Cross a short distance up the road. In 1979, Beeson and Masterton in their report on the Uphill Estate record that according to the owner (of Uphill), two ladies committed suicide and are buried at Quintin’s Graveyard. This suggests possibly three suicides in two locations.Large rock at Quintin’s Graveyard with gate behind which leads to Uphill Farm.Exploring Quintin’s Graveyard – the author’s friends Beeson and Masterton in 1979, states that the name ‘Quinton’ is a Dartmoor name for the devil. They add that there is documentary evidence that a Quytyn Rugge who once owned land in this area. It would seem these are two possible derivations of the name Quinton’s Close and Quintin’s GraveyardQuintin’s Graveyard is a very atmospheric location with very large, distorted, pollarded (possibly beech) trees. Each tree appears to have a large hole, some of which pass right through the treeLock’s Cross, a five lane crossroads, recorded by French that it was probably the burial place of a suicide or criminal called ‘Lock’. Hermon French adds: “Spitchwick manor had its own gallows, and it may have been situated at Lock’s Cross”.The Hermon French entry in the 1963 TDA (Page 165), Field Names in Widecombe-in-the-Moor. This reference (denoted by the superscript ‘1’) is annotated to the description of Quinton’s Close covered earlier in this post
