Locally, the Crack has inspired a minor literary genre: the "Recforth Gothic." Notable works:
Medieval lore transformed the Crack into the "Devil’s Thimble" – a bottomless pit where unbaptized infants’ souls were said to whisper from the walls. A 1689 parish record notes three suicides by descent, after which the town council ordered the main opening covered with a wrought-iron grille (still present, though heavily corroded). Recforth Crack