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The ICCM Journal | Winter 2021 | V89 No. 4
pulpit: in a church and churchyard in East Mersea, North Essex The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould was born into a wealthy land-owning family in Devon. Wikipedia describes him thus:“He was born in Lew Trenchard in Devon, England. He became an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,240 publications, though this list continues to grow. His family home, the manor house of Lew Trenchard, near Okehampton, Devon, has been preserved as he had it rebuilt and is now a hotel. He is remembered particularly as a writer of hymns, the best-known being "Onward, Christian Soldiers," "Sing Lullaby," and "Now the Day Is Over". He also translated the carol "Gabriel's Message" from the Basque language to English.” The family spent much of his childhood travelling in Europe which meant that most of his education was with private tutors, although he did spend a couple of years in English schools. In 1852 he was admitted to Cambridge University and received B.A. and M.A. degrees from Clare College. He took Holy Orders in 1864 and became the curate of Horbury Bridge in West Yorkshire. It was here that, amazingly, he met and fell in love with 14 year old Grace Taylor, the daughter of a mill hand, and at the other end of the class system to himself! Their marriage lasted for 48 years until Grace’s death. They had 15 children and all but one of them lived to enjoy adult life. In 1851 he became the rector of East Mersea in Essex, just about Lew Trenchard House in Devon 60 minutes from where I now live in Great Waltham. Mersea is an island and very popular for holiday-makers and those seeking sea-food and shell fish specialities. He remained in post for just over ten years when suddenly, his life changed for good! In 1872 his father died and he inherited the 3,000acre (12 km2) family estates of Lew Trenchard in Devon, which included the gift of the Ecclesiastical living of Lew Trenchard parish. When the living became vacant in 1881, he was able to appoint himself to it, becoming parson as well as squire. I have a little joke with myself, wondering if he advertised the post and short-listed other clergy and interviewed them, before finally selecting himself and taking up the living for the rest of his life! Good old days? The church has several interesting features. Near the main door, I saw a little leaflet titled “Sarah Wrench was not a witch!” The grave of Sarah Wrench (18331848), is unusual for an English grave because it is covered by a “mortsafe” which is a protective cage used at the The Parish Church of St. Edmund, King and time in Scotland to protect corpses from Martyr in East Mersea. graverobbers. Richard Jones, in Myths of Britain and Ireland, refers to popular speculation that Sarah Wrench was a witch, and that the cage was designed to keep her from escaping her grave after death. Although East Anglia was at one time known for witch trials, this was in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, not the mid-nineteenth. There is speculation that 15 year old Sarah was unfortunate to become pregnant by an unknown male and went away to have the baby. However, there is no record of her baby and it is possible that both she and the baby died in the course of childbirth.
