The Mystery of the Ramson Cliff Boulder

Chapter One: A Curious Find on Baggy Point

It was a splendid summer holiday and the Famous Five—Julian, Dick, George, Anne, and Timmy the dog—were staying in the charming village of Croyde, on the rugged North Devon coast. The Bristol Channel sparkled under the sun, and the cliffs of Baggy Point beckoned for adventure. One morning, as they rambled along the crest above Ramson Cliff, Timmy bounded ahead, sniffing furiously at a large, angular boulder on the coast path.

The "high level" epidiorite erratic on Ramson Cliff (photo: Paul Madgett)

 

“Gosh, what’s this?” exclaimed George, running her hand over the rough epidiorite surface. “It’s not like the smooth stones on the beach below!”

Julian, ever the leader, examined it closely. “It’s jolly odd for such a big rock to be up here, all alone. It’s the only one high above sea level on this coast, I’d wager!”

Anne, peering over his shoulder, wondered if the boulder once stood upright, as if placed deliberately. “I think it has been recently moved here. It looks like it was once upright, like a beacon or a rubbing stone. Maybe it was an ancient standing stone. I must find out all about it.”

Dick, always ready for a mystery, grinned. “I bet it’s a clue to something! Let’s call it the Ramson Cliff Boulder. Perhaps it’s a forgotten treasure marker!”

Julian stood up deep in thought. “In my detective books it is always important that the evidence is not moved before it is examined. I’m reading a jolly good story now where a handkerchief was taken to the police station and it couldn’t be used as evidence to show that the missing lady had been on the bus because it wasn’t recorded in its original position. I bet it’s the same for this stone.”

Timmy barked in agreement, and the Five decided to investigate.

Chapter Two: Clues from the Past

The Five headed to the village library, where they met Mrs. Madgett, a kind geologist who, with her husband Paul, had recorded the boulder in 1969 for the Quaternary Newsletter (Vol. 14, November 1974).

She explained that there was an old man in Wales who was convinced that this boulder showed that there was a glacier in the last ice age and if it reached up over the cliff to drop the rock it then went onto to Stonehenge and dropped more rocks there.

“Gosh,” said Anne, “if he thinks this one rock proves all that, it is really important we get to the bottom of this mystery.”

 Mrs Madgett pulled out an old piece of paper which was the report of the discovery:

 

“It was hidden from the coast path and by a stone wall to the south,” Mrs. Madgett explained. “But in the early 1970s, Farmer Tregellis ploughed the field, dislodged it, and dragged it to the edge by the Coast Path. Now it’s half-hidden by gorse bushes!”  The boulder had “always been there,” (*) and he hadn’t moved it before because it felt like part of the land.

But the Five were puzzled. Why had there been this boulder, unlike any other, in the middle of an eight-acre arable field called Ramson, where stones had been cleared to build walls?

George used her Ordnance Survey map to work out where it was spotted in the field, she was a whizz with maps. To help the others she then marked it on an aerial photo.

 Julian frowned. “If it was moved, how do we know where it really came from? Could it be a prehistoric standing stone, like the one near Putsborough?”

Mrs. Madgett nodded. “That’s one idea. The Putsborough stone is local sandstone, but this boulder’s rough and angular, not wave-worn like the erratics at Saunton Down End or under Saunton Cliffs. Perhaps it was raised upright long ago,  dragged up from the shore, and the rough bits ae where it got damaged when it was moved.”

Dick’s eyes lit up. “What if it’s a beacon marker? I found an old map in Early Devon Maps (Ravenhill & Rowe, 2000, pp. 52–53) that marks ‘Cride Beacon’ right near this spot!”

Anne shivered with excitement. “A beacon for pirates or smugglers, maybe?”

George, practical as ever, wasn’t convinced. “Let’s check proper records. If it’s important, it should be on Ordnance Survey maps or old photos! It should show up if it was in the middle of the field all those years ago.”

Chapter Three: The Missing Map Marks

The Five pored over Ordnance Survey maps (National Library of Scotland) but found no trace of the boulder. They examined a 1940s aerial photo (Historic England) and another from the North Devon AONB NMP Project (Knight et al., English Heritage Project 6083).  Nothing!

Julian found a really old map in a dusty drawer. “Look, even the 1839 Georgeham Tithe Map  doesn’t show a boulder.”

“That’s dashed queer,” said Julian. “A boulder this big should’ve been noticed!”

Dick scratched his head. “Unless it was moved there later. Maybe it’s a boundary stone, like the one in Mearlands field nearby!

The Five checked the Devon and Dartmoor Historic Environment Record (Heritage Gateway), which listed a boundary stone (HER number MDV61368) in Mearlands, a field named from the Anglo-Saxon gemoere (boundary). The tithe map showed strips marked by “mearstones.” Could their boulder have been dragged from Croyde Bay, as suggested by Stephens et al. (1998) in The Quaternary History of North Devon and West Somerset (JNCC), It is possible, however, that this boulder was dragged up from Croyde Bay to act as a boundary marker”?

Chapter Four: A Wartime Twist

The Five’s investigation took a thrilling turn when they met old Mr. Penrose, who remembered Baggy Point during World War II. “The American Army took over in 1943,” he said, sipping his tea. “They turned it into an Assault Training Centre for D-Day, bulldozing hedges and walls for company-sized exercises with live ammunition!” (The American).

George’s eyes widened. “Gosh, they might’ve moved the boulder or disturbed the field!”

Anne nodded. “Maybe that explains why it’s not in old records. If it was moved during the war or later, it’s not in its natural spot!”

Julian summed up wisely, “We must remember that sometimes, things moved by hands or history can fool even the keenest detectives. It’s why original position and context matter so very much.”

Timmy woofed, as if agreeing. The Five realised the boulder’s history was muddled by human activity—farming, boundaries, and wartime changes.

Chapter Five: Solving the Mystery

Back at Ramson Cliff, the Five sat by the boulder, now near the Coast Path, and pieced together their clues. Julian summed up: “It’s not on maps or photos, so it wasn’t always here. The field was cleared for farming, and there’s a boundary stone nearby. The war disturbed the area, and the boulder was moved in the 1970s. It’s not a glacial erratic with a clear geological story.”

Dick added, “It might’ve been a standing stone or beacon marker, but we can’t prove it. It’s more like an artefact of human meddling! That’s the answer.”

George patted Timmy. “Well, we’ve solved it, even if it’s not pirate treasure. It’s a jolly good mystery!”

Anne smiled. “Let’s have a picnic to celebrate—ginger beer and all!”

As the sun set over Baggy Point, the Five enjoyed their picnic, content that the Ramson Cliff Boulder, though not a glacial clue, was a splendid adventure.