THE RIDDLE OF THE FLASHES. 

The Flashes is a wilderness of heath and mire; marsh and moss tucked between Hankley and Frensham Commons in Surrey. It has an otherworldy atmosphere, especially at dusk. 

It is the only place in Southern England where all six indigenous British reptiles live.

It is also a place rich in history and legend. 

The Devil made so much noise on the Flashes jumping from hill to hill (known as the Devil’s Jumps) that he disturbed the God Thor who was resting at Thor’s Lie (Thursley). To stop the Devil’s racket, Thor threw boulders at him and they are still there, sitting atop Stony Jump.  

The boulders are home to fairies. If a local person needed a domestic item, they could whisper their request into the deep crevice on top of Stony Jump and by the time they got home, they would find that the fairies had lent them what they needed.  

If you’re tempted to give it a try, beware, because the item must be returned as soon as the fairies ask for it.

 Centuries ago, a man borrowed a giant cauldron, but he did not give it back. As a punishment, the fairies animated the cauldron’s legs and it then proceeded to follow him relentlessly wherever he went. He could never escape the cauldron.

Seeking sanctuary, he ran to St Mary the Virgin church. When the cauldron caught up, the man died of exhaustion at the altar.

 The magical cauldron is also the subject of another legend. It belonged to our resident witch Mother Ludlam and she used it to make potions in her cave. The Devil pinched it for his own Satanic purposes and Mother Ludlam gave chase. The Devil flew off, and a hill formed wherever he touched the ground and in so doing created the Devil’s Jumps. He dropped the cauldron on the last of his Jumps - Kettle Bury Hill.

 Mother Ludlum retrieved her cauldron and left it in St Mary’s for safekeeping.

Don’t believe it? Well, whether it walked by itself, or was left there by Mother Ludlum, you can see the enormous cauldron today – beside the altar at St Mary’s the Virgin, Frensham.

The Flashes are also the scene of a tragic tale from the 19th Century involving Richard Carrington, the astronomer who first identified solar flares.

He built an observatory on Middle Jump. His wife had been seriously injured by a jealous former lover and took sedatives to manage the pain. She died from an overdose and Richard was accused of not taking sufficient care of her intake. He boarded himself in his room and was found dead several days later. A verdict of ‘sudden death from natural causes’ was returned.

Local children used to dare each other to explore Carrington’s tunnel that led from the Flashes up to the observatory, but it was closed for safety reasons many years ago.