In 1865 Robert Hunt reported the story as told at Slaughter Bridge: that in 824 the Cornish and Saxons fought so bloody a battle that the river ran red, and that Arthur killed his nephew Modred on the bridge after Modred had wounded him with a poisoned sword nearly in front of Worthyvale House. A single stone laid over a stream with letters cut on its lower surface was said to mark where Arthur received his death wound. Hunt admits that to him the account did not sound like genuine local tradition. He also cites the antiquary Leland, who said that pieces of armour, rings and horse furniture were dug up in the valley, and that the tradition of a bloody victory was kept there.
Wikipedia gives a more careful picture. Slaughterbridge takes its name from an Old English word for marsh and there is no evidence for a battle there. Beside the river lies a memorial stone with ogham and Latin inscriptions reading, in translation, Latinus son of Macarus lies here. It dates from the sixth century and was first recorded by Richard Carew in 1602. It is often called King Arthur's Stone and has become the focus for the claim that Camlann was fought at this spot. Tennyson visited in 1848, and Geoffrey of Monmouth's twelfth century history, which places Arthur's last battle on a river called Camlann, is the root of all later claims. Some also link the name Camelford with Camelot.
This entry is a legend site, not a haunting. It is included because the Arthurian association is the local tradition people repeat, and it is graded as contested because the historical case is weak. The pin is near the stone beside the River Camel.
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