Devil's Jumps, Churt

The Devil's Jumps are a series of three small hills near the village of Churt in the county of Surrey in southern England. In the 18th century, the hills were known as the Devil's Three Jumps. The Devil's Jumps are linked to a body of folklore relating to the surrounding area. The highest of the three Jumps is High Jump, the Westernmost of the three hills with height above sea level of 126 metres (413 ft). Stony Jump, property of The National Trust is 121 metres (397 ft). This, the Eastern Jump is open for public access.. Borrow Jump, also known as Middle Jump, is 105 metres (344 ft) and once supported an observatory built by 19th century British astronomer Richard Christopher Carrington.

The hills are outcrops of an ironstone variety of sandstone of the Folkestone Beds of Lower Greensand set among acidic heathland. The three hills are formed of an ironstone known locally as carstone, marginally distinct from Bargate stone, strongly cemented with iron making it resistant to erosion by the elements.

The first mention of the Devil's Jumps appears to be on a map by John Rocque, dating to 1765.William Cobbett mentioned the Devil's Jumps in his Rural Rides, first published in 1830. Of the hills he says:

At Churt I had, upon my left, three hills out upon the common, called the Devil's Jumps...in the shape of three rather squat sugar-loaves, along in a line upon this heath...[with] a rock-stone upon the top of one of them as big as a Church tower...

The Devil's Jumps are linked to a variety of local landmarks by folklore, including Mother Ludlam's Cave near the ruins of Waverley Abbey, the Devil's Punch Bowl at Hindhead, the village of Thursley and the parish church at Frensham. The folklore includes various tales. One states that the Devil used to amuse himself by leaping from the top of each hill to the next. This annoyed the god Thor who picked up a boulder and threw it at the Devil, causing him to flee and leaving the boulder at the Devil's Jumps. This same story is told of the Devil's Jumps near Treyford on the South Downs in West Sussex, but it is likely to have originated at the Devil's Jumps in Surrey. The inclusion of the pagan god Thor in the tale is likely to have taken place in the early years of the 20th century, since local historian George Clinch mentioned the Jumps and the pagan derivation of the Thursley placename without linking either when he wrote in 1895.

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