All over Dartmoor there are traces of the tin mining industry which dates back here to ancient times and flourished in the Middle Ages. Challacombe Down is full of pits, gullies and hidden shafts, and it’s not without danger to move around here.
One of the most peculiar shafts was Chaw Gully, and there are several reports of unwary walkers being trapped there. It has long been filled up, but next to it there is an adit which was dug as a drainage tunnel, and on days when it has rained heavily you can still hear monstrous torrents rushing by underneath … but who knows, this may also be the spirits of the fallen wanderers rushing by.
Older legends have it that down in these pits pixies or other magic creatures hid their enourmous treasures. Many foolish adventurers tried to climb down the shafts to uncover the hoards but returned after witnessing unspeakable horrors down there, and some never returned: all that could be retraced were remains of the lifelines they had used to climb down.