Benchmark & 1GL Bolt - St Thomas a Becket - Sourton, Devon - European Historic Survey Stones, Monuments and Benchmarks on Waymarking.com

Cut benchmark and 1GL bolt on the church tower of St Thomas a Becket, Sourton.

"This bench mark was used during the First primary levelling, England & Wales, and was levelled with a height of 854.4860 feet [260.4473 metres] above mean sea level (Liverpool datum). It was included as a side level on the Bridgewater to Plymouth levelling line. The surveyor's description was No. 432(a). Sourton Down Church. Bolt in South-west angle of tower ; 1.96 ft. above surface"

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"On the edge of Dartmoor, in the village of Sourton, St Thomas à Becket is a 14th Century church founded on an earlier settlement - going back before 970 when Aelfgyth was Chaplain and it was likely that there was a simple church building on the site. It was dedicated in honour of St Thomas à Becket in the 14th Century by descendents of two knights who had taken part in the murder of Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170 - Fitz Urse and William de Tracey, who were both Devon men. It appears that their successors may have wanted to clear their family names and appease their consciences by rededicating the churches to the Christian martyr. The church at Sourton - on a hillside site with wonderful views from the churchyard - has undergone numerous alterations over the centuries but remains a place of peace where prayer can come easily. 'A moorside church, to Tors akin, Grey without and calm within', in the words of Rev A Hunter, vicar of Sourton 1953-1963. Sourton Cross, recently re-sited, dates from about the 6th century and carries lettering linking it to a late Roman military leader."

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