Crockern

Location: A cave on Dartmoor, Devon (or perhaps a storage container, if you want the truth!)

Year / Period Created
2023

Description:
Old Crockern is a towering figure, despite standing only around 9 feet tall. He has a powerful, slow-moving presence and was created as the totemic spirit of Dartmoor for The Stars Are For Everyone campaign, which fought to protect the right to wild camp on Dartmoor between 2023–2025.

His life began as a story shared around campfires on the moors, before taking shape through voice notes, sketches and a community build in Totnes. Following a public call-out for materials and volunteers, dozens of people came together over two days to sew, weave, paint, build and tell stories. Crockern became as much a community creation as a giant.

His head is woven from willow in a lantern-style construction, covered with paper and painted with inks. He wears a cloak made from a pair of faded green curtains, donated by a campaigner whose mother had recently passed away, giving the garment a particularly meaningful history. His beard and cloak are formed from rag ruffles in moorland colours, while plaited rushes across his shoulders represent Dartmoor’s rivers. The frame is built from bamboo with a collapsible hoop body and a reinforced backpack structure, allowing him to sway with a beautiful rocking movement as he walks.

Crockern’s story is inspired by the traditional Dartmoor folktale recorded by Sabine Baring-Gould in the 19th century. In the tale, Old Crockern warns an ambitious landowner that if he scratches the giant’s back, the giant will tear out his pockets—a cautionary story about the futility of trying to dominate the moor. The legend became a fitting symbol for the modern campaign to defend Dartmoor’s wild landscapes.

Is there is a folktale connected to your Giant or Beast?
The story of Old Crockern was first written down by Sabin Baring-Gould in the late 1800s. It tells the story of Mr Fowler, a rich farmer, and industrialist from Manchester who set out to improve the land around Crockern Tor. He believed that he could make unprofitable land profitable by using modern methods and so he worked the land with steam-threshing machines and steam-ploughs and tried his best to drain the bogs and till the stony fields. Then one day whist he was out for a walk he met an old farm labourer who told him of a dream visitation he had from Old Crockern, who left him with a message to give to the land owner. That, if he so much as scratches Old Crockern’s back, Old Crockern will tear out his pockets. This becomes true as Mr Fowler soon looses much of his money in his foolish venture trying to bend land to his ideals, and he leaves the moors a broken man. This story had many overlapping themes with the situation on Dartmoor where the right to wild camp was being challenged within the legal system by a wealthy land owner from the city.

What Was the First Event the Giant / Beast Attended?
The mass right-to-roam protest on Stall Moor, Dartmoor, where an estimated 3,000 people gathered in support of restoring the right to wild camp. Crockern emerged from the mist accompanied by musicians, dancers and drums, processing across the moor to the singing of Old Adam the Poacher.

Who Carries the Giant / Inhabits the Beast, or Is It a Shared Role?
Crockern has had many different porters, most of them women, as he was originally built to fit his first dancer, Katey B. His proportions give him wonderfully knobbly knees and tiny legs when worn by taller people. He is usually accompanied by at least two handlers and has surprisingly good visibility, allowing him to travel across challenging moorland terrain.

Any tales of outings/visits/strange and wonderful occurrences or special memories that should go down in History 
Crockern has been hugged by more than 40 people at once on Hay Tor, climbed tors in 40mph winds, appeared at The Museum of Dartmoor Life and MERL in Reading, joined the procession at Fire in the Mountain Festival, and has happily accepted more than a few celebratory beers and nips of whisky along the way.

How is it stored?
Crockern was originally designed to come apart, but is now usually stored fully assembled. Over the years he has lived in houses, barns, on shelves and in storage containers. He is currently searching for a new home somewhere on, or close to, Dartmoor.

Maker / Creator(s)
The Stars Are For Everyone Campaign, Ruth Webb, and the many volunteers who helped bring Crockern to life.