Feniton History Group held the 102 meeting in The Nog Inn

The meeting was started by Christine who welcomed everyone.
The meeting started with David telling u s that he has been looking at the Pring’s tomb near the
church door . H e noticed that the ends did not appea r to fit in with the overall de sign of the tomb.
 H e thought they gave the appearance of having been stuck on rather haphazardly while t he slab on the top looked like it may have been an alta r stone i n the past which had possibly been r emoved from the church when they had to be replaced by a wooden one c. 1550 The inscription on the tomb,
Prepare for Death , was possibly chosen because the village was experiencing an outbreak of plague
or smallpox at about this t ime. Since the meeting, Jenny has since read the parish registers in the
museum which reveal that the Pring family had lost four children and their mother in 1551 and
another four children who lived in Thorne in 1591. 1591.) This gave rise to a discussion about the plague hospital which was situated in Owl Lane at a safe distance from the village. It was not known when this was built. People from the village and surrounding neighbourhood would be taken there when in fected with the plague or smallpox in order to reduce the spread of the disease.

David also told us about the dole cupboard where bread was available for the poor out side the
church door. This gave rise to the word ‘dole’ today.

Christine talked about the lake a t Escot and the flooding that occurred when it swept through
property and fields as it headed for Sidmouth. No one, however, had been able to find a written
record on it and the story has only been passed on by word of mouth. Meanwhile, it was m entioned
that Escot House, prior to the fire faced the other way towards Clapperentale, but others disagreed
and pointed out that contemporary records show that it was facing the same direction that it does
today.

Brenda reported that she had been researching the land lord of the Greyhound Inn who lived there
during the Second World War Years. The family were called ‘Parsons’. In 1939 there was a mention
of a Lillian Parsons and in 1945 there was a reference to a Mr Parsons.

Brenda also told us that she has published a beautifully presented book let which starts with the
mystery of a bigamous marriage which took place in Feniton church before the couple moved to
Sidmouth. See Brenda if you would like a copy of this fascinating story.

Alan said he had been thinking of the battle of Fenny Bridges and the previous discuss ions of the
river c hanging its course. He thought that the rive r and main road bridge had possibly been two
hundred yards to the West. If you look at the present road it is raised up over the surroundi ng
ground which suggests that the river had made a sign ificant change of course with the bed probably
being where the cars are sold today. We queried whether the mill had therefore also been in a
differe nt position to where it is located now. Jenny mentioned that nearly all the archaeological
discoveries , particularly the peasants’ weapons, were found close to Bloomfield House, and not on
what is normally considered the main battlefield site. This suggests that the main battle was fought
closer to Bloomfield. (Did Bloomfield change its name from Bloodfield, perhaps?perhaps?) Just as had happened further downstream at Cadhay, the old river bed would have become filled in. It was also mentioned tha  flat bottomed boats use to sail past Fenny Bridges from Budleigh Salerton.

Peter informed us that it was Poetry day and he entertained us by read ing two of the poems he had
written.

RoseMarie said she had been to Sancreed church and seen the painting of Munnings the Horse
painter,

Lionel, our new member, said he had only recently moved and we were pleased to welcome him.
He said that his particular interests were the history of Honiton, where he now lives, and Penzance,
his former home.

George said that Christine had sent an email out about a very important find on Dartmoor and he
told us about a BBC programme about the discovery which he had seen. He offered to lend the
guide book and the recording of the film to whoever was interested.

We also discussed the meeting in the church with Dr Todd Grey when he told us the story behind
Uncle Tom Cobley and its relevance to Feniton which had its own, and much earlier version. No
one, however, could identify the names in Feniton’s version with local names at the time from the
old records. We concluded that the names were imported from elsewhere or purely fictional.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the event and we were pleased it had raised so much for the church.

Christine thanked everyone who had worked to make the event so successful.

Date of next meeting is the first Thursday in November, the 7th November at 8 p.m.