The Storyteller: Tackling tombs and bloody battles

Well, here we are in July already!

Where did that half a year go? It’s true what they say, once you’ve gotten through January, the rest of the year just whizzes by!

Personally, I like July as it's one month closer to my birthday in August and  at the beginning we’ve got two very interesting, local paranormal anniversaries that I’ve investigated many times over the years.

But unfortunately I’m not able to do so this year as I will be busy celebrating an anniversary of a different kind... but more of that later...

The first takes us to the ruined church of Holy Trinity on the hill overlooking Buckfastleigh. In particular, to the tomb of the wicked Squire Cabal. 

For Saturday, July 5, sees the anniversary of his death back in  1677. His death  was much celebrated by the locals, his tenants, who he treated quite badly. Is it any wonder that he became the inspiration for the evil Hugo Baskerville, in Conan Doyle’s famous Holmesian novel? 

It is said that he would frequently spend an evening in a local hostelry before taking one of the serving wenches back home with him, at nearby Brook Manor, and after having his wicked way with her, kick her out the following morning. 

So, when he eventually died and was taken for burial in his mausoleum at Holy Trinity, the tenants had a massive granite slab placed over his tomb. The idea was to prevent his spirit from rising up and coming back to haunt them. 

This might have worked on the squire himself but there is a stalagmite in the shape of a Victorian gent in a frock coat and top hat in the cave system directly below the graveyard that suggests he is never too far away. 

On the anniversary of his death, his beloved hunting hounds come and pay tribute to him by returning to sit and howl at the tomb of their master. It is even said that he led the Devil’s Hunt, to add to his litany of sins! However, on the many times we have been there on the right day, they have failed to make an appearance for us.

At the same time that his hounds head to the church his coach and horses gallop up the driveway to Brook Manor, intent on taking him for one more drive before returning him to his grave. 

Sadly, it’s not possible to get a view of the manor grounds from the neighbouring roads to verify this annual phenomenon but in recent years I’ve met people who live on an adjacent farm and some friends of the current owners, which makes me ever hopeful that an opportunity to view the home of the notorious Squire Cabal might, one day, be possible, to aid my research into this intriguing piece of Dartmoor folklore.

The other anniversary phenomenon happens across the border in Somerset on Sunday, July 6, and concerns a re-enactment of the bloody Battle of Sedgemoor that originally took place back in 1685. This was literally a massacre of the rebels, led by the Duke of Monmouth, against the armed forces of James II, on this site amongst the rhines of the Somerset Levels in the early hours of the morning. 

Having ignored a wise woman's warning to “Beware the rhine!” whilst in Germany awaiting his chance to invade England, the Duke assumed she meant the River Rhine, which didn’t feature in his plans. 

Instead, his men fell foul of the man-made rhines that stood in their way whilst they attempted to sneak past the King’s army under cover of darkness. Unfortunately, their position was given away, either by accident or on purpose, and when the rebels challenged the soldiers to come across and fight them, they were just slaughtered where they stood by musket and cannon fire. Any that escaped, including the Duke himself, were swiftly rounded up, tried and executed for taking part in the uprising.

Today, the battle site is marked by a large memorial stone and it is here that we have gathered regularly  in the hope of witnessing some signs of re-enactment and on our first attempt some of us got lucky...

On the night in question, myself and several members of my investigation group, TIP, gathered at the Sedgemoor Inn in Westonzoyland prior to heading out along the rhines  to take up positions by the memorial to see if anything would happen for us. 

The actual fighting took place between 2am and 3am so we had a bit of time to wait. During that time, several not-so-hardy souls, some with work the next day, gave up and went home, having come all the way from Torbay for just a drink! By 2am only three of us were left. We hung on for another 30 minutes and then, we too, decided to call it a night. As we started to return to the car, slightly disappointed, I happened to glance back over my shoulder, just in time to see lights dancing over the hillside on the edge of the battlefield. 

Telling my companions to look round quickly, we all saw further flashes of light happening behind a bank of trees closer to us. Had we just witnessed musket and cannon fire from the night in question? There was no sound or smells, just brief flashes, which made us think that we had just experienced something very special. Sadly, my camera was pointing in the wrong direction to capture it for posterity but it was this sighting that kept us returning for many years after that. 

Unfortunately, we have nothing further to report... apart from the night when some reenactors, who had spent the evening in the pub, walked out along the rhines in full costume to join us. Cruelly building our hopes up!

As I said, this year there won’t be any investigating by us at either site. Instead, I will be attending a celebration being held by two good friends of mine, Caroline and Mike, to mark their 50th birthdays in July. The prospect of these festivities has brought to mind memories of my own 50th, spent down in wonderful Boscastle and Tintagel, where amongst other things we found a photographic studio that specialised in group portraits of people dressed as King Arthur and members of his court. Guess who was King Arthur? We had great fun putting this shoot together and we were very lucky, for the next time we were in the area the studio had gone!

Caroline and Mike’s brother, my mate Dave, were both there, helping me make a lasting memory for my special day, and I hope that we will all make special memories for them too, in return...

Happy 50th birthdays, Caroline and Mike!