The Knucker of Lyminster is the water-dragon of West Sussex, said to dwell in the Knucker Hole — a deep, cold spring-fed pool near the village of Lyminster, reputed to be bottomless. The name comes from the Old English *nicor*, a water-monster, and from its pool the Knucker would emerge to ravage the countryside, devouring livestock and villagers until the land lay in terror.
The story
Sussex tells two endings to the tale. In the knightly version a wandering hero slays the beast and is rewarded; but the version the locals relish best is that of Jim Pulk (or Jim Puttock), a Wick man who killed the dragon by guile rather than valour. He baked an enormous poisoned pie, carted it out to the Knucker Hole, and let the greedy dragon swallow pie, horse, cart and all; the poison did its work, and Jim lopped off the monster's head with his axe — though in the cruellest telling he later died himself, wiping his mouth with a poisoned hand after toasting his victory in the village inn. His supposed gravestone, a worn carved slab in Lyminster church called the 'Slayer's Slab', is still shown as the resting place of the man who killed the Knucker.