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Widecombe-in-the-Moor
Widecombe Things New and Old
This is the second item from Robert Dymond's book: "Things New and Old Concerning the Parish of Widecombe-in-the-Moor and its Neighbourhood" (1876)
THE COFFIN STONE
THE neighbourhood of the road from Dartmeet towards Poundsgate, on the way to Ashburton, is plentifully bestrewn with ancient British remains. The cairns on Corndon Tor (erroneously called Quarnion Tor on the Ordnance Map) and the fine examples of hut circles near Rowbrook Farm should be examined by the passing traveller. But the Coffin Stone is of more modem interest.
It might easily be overlooked, and, indeed, few besides the older natives of the locality are aware of its existence. About half way up the steep ascent from Dartmeet, the road seeks an easier gradient by a bend towards the left. Pedestrians, however, commonly take the straighter but steeper course on the turf. Close by the track which cuts off the bend in the road are two large masses of granite, which were evidently united in one block at some remote time. The larger of these measures 8 1/2 feet by 3.
The other is of triangular form, about 6 by 3 1/2 feet. Their upper surfaces will be found studded with rudely cut crosses and letters. The corpses of parishioners who died in the large district beyond the East and West Dart, formerly attached to Widecombe, had to be carried by hand a long and toilsome journey to the parish church. On this stone the bearers laid the coffin,--the Dart sparkling below and the solemn moor all round,—-while they beguiled their rest by chiselling the initial letters of their dead friend’s name.
The information on this page was last modified on November 23 2016 16:52:08.