"Whether the affrighted townsman profited by this suitable admonition, I do not know." "No wonder the Arch Fiend turned on the intruder and addressed him thus: 'Walk by day and not by night, and let the spirits take their flight.'
"Not only was the townsman very much alarmed at such an unusual spectacle, but it seems like the spirits did not like the interruption. They wrote: "It is said that no trees would ever grow on the land that formed the site of this avenue, that the devil and some of his kindred spirits were often seen at certain hours of the night, more especially at that witching time 'when churchyards yawn' etc, taking a drive down over it, and that once upon a time, one of the townsmen, having occasion to go through the copse in the middle of the night, had suddenly met with his Satanic Majesty taking his usual drive. GFR wrote that in their youth they had listened in awe to "weird tales told concerning it". "However, it was so steep that it was evident that any ordinary mortal who attempted to drive down over it would have come to grief." "When I knew it, this avenue was quite wide enough to allow a carriage and four to be driven along it but was overgrown with grass and did not appear to have been ever used as a road or way. "Newton Copse is thickly planted with trees, except one part of it where there is apparently a natural avenue formed leading from the top of the hill to the road beneath and crossing the aforementioned footpath at right angles. GFR wrote: "Above Newton Copse stands Summerhouse Hill which forms the superb backdrop to Yeovil and a footpath runs parallel between road and hill. 'Walk by day and not by night, and let the spirits take their flight' You can read the original article from GFR below, which was referenced in a column by Yeovil historian Jack Sweet in a historical edition of the Western Gazette newspaper. It takes around ten to 15 minutes to walk from one side of the path to the other if you fancy exploring it yourself, and it is an official public footpath, part of a local walking route. Unfortunately, we did not encounter the devil or any other spirits, but we were only brave enough to visit during the daytime. The path ends at a clearing at the base of Summerhouse House, at the edge of Yeovil town centre near to the Cineworld cinema. They also told of one particular local man who "met with his Satanic Majesty" at the path and was told by the devil, "walk by day and not by night, and let the spirits take their flight". GFR recounted how there were "weird tales" surrounding the creepy route told across Yeovil in hushed voices, warning that "the devil and some of his kindred spirits were often seen at certain hours of the night, more especially at that witching time when churchyards yawn". In the journal, they wrote about a strange and spooky natural clearing that was wide enough for a horse and carriage but was too steep to ever be used safely be one.
READ MORE: Somerset boozer branded 'Britain's ugliest pub' in viral social media post That is according to a subscriber simply known as GFR in the 1893 edition of the Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries.
The woodland lane within Newton Copse, which leads from Yeovil to Yeovil Junction, Stoford and Barwick, was known locally as "Devil's Drive" and was often frequented by "the Arch Fiend". A creepy tree-lined avenue in Yeovil is said to be haunted by the devil and other spirits, according to a resident who lived in the town in 1893.