By: Blonde Two
There are some strange things that a girl could be doing on a sunny Sunday afternoon but poking around looking for a stone to put a coffin on whilst eating a French Fancy could conceivably win a prize for be one of the strangest.
I am very pleased to say that I didn’t actually have a coffin with me at the time and that the French Fancy was pink and very nice. I allowed it a quick viewing of Sharp Tor before I marched it down the hill on my macabre quest.
In the olden days (sometime after 1200) if your loved ones, or if legend is true, not so loved ones, died around the Huccaby, Bellever and Postbridge areas, you had to get a group of people together and carry the coffin all the way to Widecombe to be buried. If you think that is a long way, it is much better than even oldener days when coffins had to be carried along the “Lichway” (way of the dead) all the way to Lydford to be buried. From Bellever, along assumed routes, my rough calculations make Lydford 40 miles and Widecombe 16 miles away. I may have got this totally wrong but any way you look at it guys, this is a long way and Dartmoor didn’t have the roads then that it does now.
The coffin stone near Yartor (SX677734) marks the place where it was traditional to take a rest from coffin carrying if you were Widecombe bound. If you have ever walked up the hill from Dartmeet, you will understand why. The coffin was rested on the stone, a tot of whisky was had for warmth and remembrance and, if the person was well liked, his initials were carved into the stone. I deliberately haven’t given you a photo of the stone as I really enjoyed finding it but here are some initials to help. You will have to look carefully but for a little clue, the stone slab is split in two – if you want to read the legend behind this split, go to the fantastic Legendary Dartmoor site http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/coffin_stone.htm
Interestingly, in the days of coffin trekking all the way to Lydford, the body was not in the coffin for most of the journey. It was carried wrapped in a shroud (apparently much easier) to Coffin Wood (SX540810) where it was transfered to the coffin for the last part of the journey. I will have to take you over to Coffin Wood sometime but I can guarantee that I won’t be going at night!
Thanks for info to the following:
Legendary Dartmoor
Widecombe History Group
Dartmoor Crosses
Wow! After a walk like that you would be. ‘dead on your feet’!
Oh! I think on my Silver the other week we walked past that place, or it could have been on ten tors… Nope definitely ten tors – thinking up the worst possible meanings for the 2 letters took at least 15 minutes!
More time for making up meanings for initials on DofE but well done you for doing both! I hope you got to rest your coffin on the stone?
I first discovered the Coffin Stone a few years back when out geocaching. What was meant to be quite a quick walk from Dartmeet up river to Babeny then up to Yar Tor before dropping over to the Coffin Stone and back to Dartmeet, turned into a bit of an epic! In previous years when my girlies were very ickle, we used to walk up river from Dartmeet to a lovely area that opened up to a lovely picnic spot. We would carry the barbeque up and spend the day with the icklies playing in the river and playing bat and ball on the grass. So I was expecting the same this particular summer. Of course, this was the first of the last 5 or 6 very wet summers and I hadn’t taken into account that the whole area between the foot of Yar Tor Down and the Dart would be a giant quagmire!!! So what should have been a pleasant 20 minute bimble up the river turned into a 2-3 hour spot a tussock and stand on it, hopping mission – with 2 girlies aged about 5-6 and Granny, this was a very slow adventure. Oh course the highlight of it all was when Mother (me!!!) went for a maneuver and one’s foot seemed to be sucked into the quagmire resulting in me falling into it!!! I then had to spend the rest of the day walking around rather dirty and smelly – quite normal for the seasoned Dartmoor walker I suppose!!! We found the Coffin Stone easily but then we did have a GPS. Since doing the 365 it is somewhere I need to revisit and photograph and I can’t remember where on earth it was, so will have great fun looking for it again!!
Which reminds me, the night before last, when I was returning to camp via the Nodden Gate, a group of exceedingly polite, tall young men asked me if I knew where the “Nodding Gate” was – they were standing right by it – and was the ford straight on. (One of them was – there is another not far down. I hope I sent them to the right one!) I couldn’t help chuckling because anyone who knows me will know that I am the LAST person to ask if you want directions. I rarely know where I am! That’s why I toddle around the Lakeland fells, & moors and woods with a GPS firmly glued to my left hand. With a map and compass for backup of course.
It is always nice to bump into groups of tall, polite young men!
Could you get in touch with me at daisy.smith@outsideline.com as I’d like to use your lovely French Fancy picture please! (There would be some Mr Kipling French Fancies in it for you…)
Please get in touch with me at daisy.smith@outsideline.com as I’d love to use your lovely photo on this post. There would be some cakes as an incentive!
Apologies for posting this twice – didn’t think it had gone through the first time!
The site doesn’t like anything that looks like an email address. You can email us at blondestwo@ymail.com if you would like to 🙂
I’m pretty sure that Lydford isn’t 40 miles from Widecombe! I reckon it’s 20 or so. Interesting article though…thanks!
I guess it would depend which way you walked. Which might depend on whether or not you were carrying a coffin. Did you find the coffin stone?