The first walk of the year to Keble Martin's Church

One of my favourite ways to share my love of Dartmoor is during my monthly Sunday walks. These were set up, along with my friend Mark, who sadly now lives in New Zealand, for the benefit of our friends. Now they are open to anyone who cares to join us, many having seen them mentioned on my dedicated Facebook page. I spend a lot of my free time on the moors, doing solo letterboxing walks, but these monthly ones I share with others, as long as they don’t mind detouring to pick up the odd letterbox. I usually try to make them circular, and to include some place, or antiquity, of note, that I can share my knowledge of. I always hope for suitable walking conditions on my chosen Sundays, so that everyone can appreciate the landscape that I love, and never tire of.

I had two dates to choose from in January, the 14th or 21st, for our first walk of the year, keeping an eye on the advance weather forecast to see which was more favourable. The 14th won, promising to be sunny, but chilly, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

When I advertise my walks online, I never know how many are actually going to join me, so I always check with my regulars first, and wait to see if any new members turn up. For this particular walk, I had selected Keble Martin’s Church as our destination, a place I’ve visited many times before, but the story behind its creation always intrigues me, as it holds a very mysterious secret...

Arranging to meet people in the car park at Buckfast Abbey, I was very pleasantly surprised to find myself joined by ten other hardy walkers, including two newbies, that I had only previously communicated with online, plus three well-behaved little doggies.

As parking at the start of this walk was limited, we needed to leave a few cars elsewhere, then car share to the start. The easiest place, is the village hall in Scorriton, which makes a handy start for several walks in that area, especially to the Deer Park on Scorriton Down, a particular favourite at this time of year. Using just four cars, we managed to ferry everyone to the parking spot on the lane leading to Lud Gate.

Once everyone was suited and booted against the cold, we set off up the lane, and as we passed the entrance, I told everyone about Hayford Hall. Sadly, you can’t see the place up close, as it’s privately owned, but, as the story goes, it is possibly the inspiration for Baskerville Hall in Conan Doyle’s most famous novel. He visited the area, whilst researching the book, and, frustratingly, insisted on changing the names of all the places that he used, making for an interesting challenge, for all holmesian fans, to try and identify them. One thing of interest that the owners of the lodge do share with passing walkers, is their unique use of an old, disused letterbox, in the wall opposite the driveway...

(The old disused letterbox at Hayford Hall)

Once at the moor gate, our chosen route followed a well-worn track, that took us below the cairns of Inner and Outer Pupers, but still furnished us with splendid views of the countryside behind us, and the high points in front, which included Eastern Whitabarrow, the cairn that looks like a sub, and the intriguingly named Heap of Sinners, another cairn that we once walked to, whilst all around was covered in a blanket of snow.

Having passed a fine example of a hut circle settlement on the slopes of Hickaton Hill, the track brought us to another magnificent view, overlooking the meandering River Avon, on its way to the reservoir at Avon Dam. In front of us, we could make out Huntingdon Cross, one of many granite crosses that would have marked safe passage for travellers along that stretch of the Abbots Way, and away to our right, against the skyline, we could see the lone tree inside the enclosures of the abandoned Huntingdon Warren Farm. 

Our route now took us through slightly wetter ground, upstream, along the right bank of the Western Wella Brook, passing the remains of some ruined mine workings, known as Avon Consols. This name only came to light when my friend, another David, made a chance find of a letterbox pertaining to that site. This is why I love letterboxing, it’s so educational!

Climbing a slight rise, our destination was finally revealed, and, whilst everyone rested with their refreshments, I regaled them with the history of this charming, enclosed little dell...

William Keble Martin, and his brothers, Arthur and Jack, along with various family members, and accompanying friends, chose this particular spot to camp during their Summer holidays in the early 1900s. Both Keble and Jack were training for the priesthood, following in their father’s footsteps, who, at that time, was the vicar of Dartington, whilst Arthur was an architect. Feeling the need to have their own sacred spot, to say their prayers whilst they holidayed, the brothers set about constructing a small walled enclosure with inlaid steps, and, to top it off, Arthur inscribed a cross into a conveniently placed boundary stone. This became known locally as “Matins Corner '', and, whilst the farmer and his wife kept the campers supplied with fresh produce, in return the priests baptised their children in their holy place. Over the years, several couples have had their marriages blessed at this sanctified spot, with a ten year anniversary also being marked here, but the intriguing mystery that keeps drawing me back, is only noticeable when you look at the Ordnance Survey map and check out its grid reference. Spookily, it is actually 666 666, the notorious Mark of the Beast. How can such a charming, purpose built little chapel have acquired such a stigma? The puzzle deepens, when you realise the church was built before today’s OS grid referencing was even applied. How could the brothers have had such foresight to protect their special spot? I guess we will have to chalk it up to coincidence, but as us believers in the supernatural know, there is no such thing...

Keble Martin, however, has precedence when it comes to designing holy sanctuaries, for he once dreamt of a special church, with aisles laid out in what is known as the Byzantine style, with three of them radiating out from a central altar, so the priest in the pulpit has to address his congregation in three directions. He felt strongly that it had to be built, and so, with the help of his brother, Arthur, the architect, his dream became a reality, and it still stands in Milber, on the bank overlooking the expressway, outside of Newton Abbot. I was once privileged to have a guided tour of the church, by the vicar, and stood in that pulpit, and I must say what a mighty fine structure it is.

You might also have heard of Keble Martin from his most famous publication, “Concise British Flora in Colour”, which contains a study of flora that he has painstakingly illustrated himself, over many years of research, a copy of which is still much sought after to this day. He really was a most extraordinary character.

History lesson over, it was time to make our way back to the cars, with night drawing on. Following the track from Huntingdon Warren, as we crested the hill below the Pupers again, we were graced with the most wonderful Winter sunset (evidenced in the picture below), washing the surrounding landscape in a spectacular orange light, making it look like it was on fire. The glow stayed with us as we descended the hill, back towards Lud Gate and the cars, whilst our thoughts were of the pub meal ahead, to celebrate the end of such a special day, and plans of our next adventure together in February...