Another very
interesting evening. I want to thank Chris from Ottery Heritage for joining us,
his local knowledge is much appreciated.
The main topic
being our joint effort with Ottery to place a stone to mark the historic
boundary between the two parishes.
Looking at the
drawings from Chris Wakefield and the quotes David kindly gleaned for us, the
general consensus is to chose the triangle design. It would cost in the region
of £170. Feniton Parish Council are keen and have asked to be kept informed of
developments. I will do some more work on this in the coming weeks.
For part of the fund raising needed for the
stone, Chris has kindly offered to do a
talk in the Church for our April 2015 meeting, this then leads up nicely to
unveiling the stone as part of our Rogation Walk, on Sunday 10th May 2015.
Sadly we don't have any choir boys to "Beat the Bounds" with!!
Roger has been
sending on lovely snippets from the old newspapers, we have decided that the Court social articles found in the Times, would have been the Twitter and Facebook of the day.
Next year will
see the 160th anniversary of Bishop Patteson leaving Feniton Court on his journey to Melanesia. The writer ,Charlotte Yonge has put this in
her book titled" Life of John
Coleridge Patteson"
He chose to walk
to the coach that would take him to join the railway at Cullompton. The last
kisses were exchanged at the door, and the sisters watched him out of sight.
I write one line
to-night to tell you that I am, thank God, calm and even cheerful. I stayed a
few minutes in the churchyard after I left you, picked a few primrose buds from
dear mamma's grave, and then walked on.
The above has
sparked a debate, as to how and where he would have picked up the coach? Was it
a family carriage, or the stage coach, what route would it have taken. Perhaps
at Fairmile to Cullompton via Clyst Hydon. Perhaps we will never know. It was
suggested we look at the Turnpike records of the time, 1855 to see were the
main roads went. Did he have luggage? There is a road marked on some maps
called "Sidmouth Road" this was a road improved for travellers to
from the railway at Culllompton to Sidmouth in the days before Sidmouth Junction Station at
Feniton. It was deemed too expensive to do the whole route due to the Goyle at Tipton St John.
An article in
the Exeter Flying Post suggests there was once a footbridge over the Otter at
Fenny Bridges, dated October 16, 1856, again the Turnpike Records would be
useful to find. In the article it states the County was found to be responsible
for its repair.
The Group are
looking to publish a book and a good discussion followed on how we might
achieve this. Brenda brought along a selection of local books to show what form
it could take. We also need to look at the software needed for the publisher,
and pictures would be needed. This will be our topic for the next meeting on Thurs 2nd Oct in the Nog Inn.
I have asked Graeme if he can come to our
November meeting, and he is very happy to come, just waiting for him to confirm
the date. He tells me this: "I have some interesting news for you and the
history group. A novel due to be published at the end of the year includes the
main character visiting Sidmouth junction, The Railway Hotel, Escot Church and
the Escot estate together with a visit to a fictitious farm called Fenwater
Farm. " Intriguing. "You are the first person in Feniton to be told
about this and feel free to share the news if you wish."
