Clonque Bay is a rocky inlet on Alderney's west coast, below the steep slopes and within sight of Fort Clonque, the Victorian fort on its tidal islet. Somewhere on its shore is, or was, a rock shaped like a seat.
The first legend is a simple triumph story. A monk met the Devil there and fought him. When he had won, exhausted, he sat down on the rock, and it shaped itself into a chair for him. That is why it is called the Chair of the Monk, and why it is also called the Devil's Chair.
The second version, from the Devil's Rock book and podcast, turns the story round: the chair was a place of sacrifice where "godless heathens" bound clergymen. No older source for this has been found, and the authors are open that their work mixes island lore with their own invention. It is recorded here because it is now part of how the rock is talked about, but the evidence for it is very thin. A photograph by Steve Phelan from 2018 is said to show the chair with the tide rising around it. The map point marks Clonque Bay.
Comments