Cofton Chapel, restored 1838 ([1845])

Cresswell, Beatrix F. Dawlish and the estuary of the Exe. Dawlish: R. E. Cann; London: The Homeland Association Ltd., 1902. pp. 49-50.Just such a chapel as Lidwell, St. Nicholas, Shaldon, and St. Mary Magdalene, Teignmouth, was that of St. Mary Cofton. The place is mention as "Cocton in maneria de Doulis" in a deed at Exeter Cathedral of the date of Bishop Bronescombe, 1270. Subsequently a chapel was erected on the estate "in honnour [sic] of Blessed Mary the Virgin," and in 1384 Bishop Brantyngham authorised the Vicar of Dawlish to perform divine service there, but he was told he must provide everything requisite at his own expense. After the Reformation the chapel was disused until the time of the Commonwealth. Then Dr. Kendal, Vicar of Kenton, being ejected from his living, held divine service there, Cofton being his birthplace; here he died on August 19th, 1663, and was buried in the church. There services were continued by the neighbouring clergy until 1760, when the roof became insecure, and Cofton Chapel was deserted and allowed to fall into ruins. Eighty years later the Earl of Devon, patron, rebuilt it, and service was recommenced in 1839. In February, 1864, a district chapelry was assigned for the church of St. Mary, Cofton, by the Queen in Council. Cofton Chapel stands in a hollow close to a farm. […]The churchyard is one of the most picturesque imaginable, lying on the upland with woods above it. In the early spring snowdrops and daffodils cluster thickly over graves and turf. At the top of the slope a gateway opens into the woods, where paths wind uphill below fir and beech trees.A seat affords a resting place in the shade, and where the wood paths end, a gate leads into a field path parallel with the lane below, leading to the house called Easdon, and by further byways out on the Warren.[Text may be taken from a different source or edition than that listed as the source by Somers Cocks.]

Lithograph

182x250mm