Crazywell Pool
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Crazywell Pool is situated close to Princetown just off the path between Burrator and Whiteworks on the western side of Dartmoor, Devon, England at grid reference SX582705. It is about 100 metres long and has a surface area of about 3,500 square metres (about 0.9 acre).
Its origins are uncertain, but the pool is thought to be the result of excavations by local tin miners. Some claim that it is a flooded mine shaft, and others that it was used by the miners as a reservoir.
There are no natural lakes on Dartmoor, which may be one reason why Crazywell Pool has attracted more than its share of local legends. It was once believed to be bottomless, and the water level was said to rise and fall with the tides at sea. Local legend has it on one occasion, parishioners brought up the bell ropes from the parish church to test its depth. Even after tying the ropes together, and weighting the end, it is claimed they were still unable to reach the bottom.
Crazywell Pool is the subject of other Dartmoor superstitions. For example, at dusk, it is said that the waters call out the name of the next parishioner to die, and if you gaze into the pool at midnight on Midsummer's Eve, you will see their face looking back at you.
Apparently a recruit in the Royal Marines was training in full kit one day in the early 1900s and due to his kit being too heavy and not being a strong enough swimmer he drowned and his body was never recovered[citation needed] which led to people believing that Crazy Well was in fact bottomless.
The reality is that the pool is about 16 foot deep at the western end and considerably less at the eastern end.
