Staverton,South Hams, Devon Photos by Lo Davis~St Paul de Leon ~Staverton Church. A report dated around 1750 quotes the story that a family vault belonging to the Worths was opened in the order to drain it. An oak coffin was found, which must have been that of Simon Worth who died in 1669. When the workmen opened the coffin they found the body not only intact, but quite supple, as if buried only the day before. The body had not been embalmed and although the coffin was left open for several weeks the body did not decay. A surgeon opened the body and found all the organs intact. The vault used to fill with water in the winter, but dried out in the summer, and this coffin was held down with a stone., which may account for the preservation of the body. In 1877, Staverton Church was restored in true Victorian style”. The Reverend Sabine Barring Gould, who had a living near London at the time, was contacted, as his ancestors were about to be entombed in concrete . He rushed down and removed their memorials to Lewtrenchard Church near Okehampton, Devon, before they were lost for ever. The Gould family had lived at Pridhamsleigh (presumably until they lost it in the gambling debt), and Coombe, and were the founders of several Parish Charities. Their name survives today in Goulds, a house near Staverton station. A visit to the church reveals a lovely interior with a quite magnificent wooden Rood Screen and one of the eight Rood Lofts left in the county. The church is open 8am to 5pm. A good push on the door moves the counterweight and opens it if you are the first to come in on the day.I thought it was locked :(
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 08:56:58 +0000
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