A Paignton Scrapbook E-Book

Peggy Parnell

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 264

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2007

Beschreibung

Telling stories about well-known local characters of Paignton, the history of local businesses, A Paignton Scrapbook explores the truth behind various myths and legends, and, reminds readers of long-gone buildings, and bygone pubs and clubs, among others.

Leseprobe

A Paignton

SCRAPBOOK

PEGGY PARNELL

Dedication

To Eileen, with many thanks for her enduring help and advice, to David, my husband, for his constant supply of meals and never-ending support and to my life-long friend Pat.

First published in 2007 by Sutton Publishing

Reprinted in 2013 by

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2013

All rights reserved

© Peggy Parnell, 2013, 2013

The right of Peggy Parnell to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

EPUB ISBN 978 0 7509 5334 4

Original typesetting by The History Press

Contents

Introduction

Acknowledgements

1.Some Early Stories

2.Tall Stories

3.The Legend of Coverdale Tower

4.Animals Great & Small

5.Odd Characters

6.A Family Saga

7.Stories from the Old Town

8.Tribulations of Dairymen

9.A Prince Calls

10.Oddities

11.Near Disasters

12.Cry Fire!

13.Early Tourism

14.Strange Things

15.Ghosts

16.Three Houses & A Toffee Factory

17.The Sea & Ships

18.Church Tales

19.Schooldays & Childhood Memories

20.A Mysterious Painting

21.The War Years

22.When It Was Over

23.Entertainment

24.Hand-Made

25.Trades & Traders

26.All Our Yesteryears

Bibliography

Introduction

Old Devonians were once renowned for their romancing when relating local stories; you could say it was a form of journalese, perhaps brought about by their isolation here in the remote south west of England. However, this collection of tales has developed into a pudding full of surprises spanning different periods of life with different stories about different people associated with one of Devon’s ancient ‘burg’ towns (an enclosed gated area), called Paignton. The majority of yarns are from between the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century and are spun not only by those who are born and bred Paigntonians, but also Paigntonians by adoption!

Some stories are far older, showing just how much Paignton was allied through farming and historical events with nearby towns including Brixham, Totnes and Newton Abbot. Then there are those ‘old un’s’ long since gone, who used to spin yarns that became legendary in their time, coloured and heightened further by later generations in the warmth of a local pub, helped no doubt by numerous glasses of cider. OK, so one or two of the yarns may have been told over and over, with tongue in cheek, while others are of human and historical merit, but all are based in fact no matter how old or by whom told and how much they may have changed in their storytelling.

Please accept my apologies for any inaccuracies, for as explained, many of the accounts are as they have been described or written by others. Now dig deep and enjoy discovering the many and various yarns, large and small, old and recent as related by numerous Paigntonians with some additional tit-bits just for the fun of it.

Peggy Parnell

Paignton, 2007

The author has made every effort to contact the various sources she used in compiling this book and apologises to anyone who may not have received notification of her intent.

Taking into consideration the difficulties of covering so many stories and varying activities in Paignton and its surrounding area, the author also apologises for any mis-quotations or errors that may have inadvertently been made and the omittance of several stories, which was beyond her control.

Acknowledgements

With thanks to the following people for their contributions:

Michael Adams; Roy & Tina Authors; Estelle & Adrian Barnard; Dave Blackmore; Mary Bridgeman; Ernest Britton; Brixham Museum; Buckfastleigh Station; Diane Caine; Wendy Caplan; Brian Carter; Pat Chubb; Cyril Clark; Gail Collins, Primley Home; W.G. Couldrey; Bill Coysh; Arthur Day; Devon Record Office; Devonshire Association; Michael Dowdell; English Heritage; Dr Epstein; Jill Farrant; Betty Fuller; Derek Gore; Alistair Grant; David Head; Donald Head; Leo Head; Leslie Head; Herald & Express; Kevin Hodgkinson; M. Holman; George Hunter; Peggy Jackman; Margaret Jeffries; Moyra Jenkins; Sharon Knight, Collaton Fishacre; Bob LeMarchant; John Mann; Ingrid Marsh; Mrs G. Masters; Revd Gillian Maude; T. Moss; Paignton Library; Paignton Preservation & Local History Society; David Parnell; Eric Parnell; Sam Partridge; Frank Pearce; John Perrett; Margaret Plummer; Janette Procter; E. Purton; D. Ricks; John Risdon; Nigel Rossiter; Ken Rowe; Marion Smith; Ann Stockwell, Hill House; Mike Thompson; Sheila Thorndyke; Torbay Council; Torbay Council Estates Office; Torquay Museum; Torquay Reference Library; Revd Tubbs; Mary Tully; Brian & Joan Vickery; David Walden; A. Ward; Jill Webber, Torbay School of Dancing; Mary & Ron Wellens; Mike Wells; Yvonne Wells; Geraldine Wheatley; Pat Wilby; Susan Woodward; Ted Woolvet; John Wright.

CHAPTER ONE

Some Early Stories

A NAME Is A NAME!

Over time there have been at least thirty different ways of spelling Paignton since the Normans gave their French version of the name to the town in 1066, so it isn’t surprising to discover that on completion of the railway in 1859 there was some controversy about how the name should be spelt, particularly on destination boards.

Some time before the opening of the railway, Brunel’s surveyor arrived in town to begin listing the names of towns and villages along the track line into Paignton. Somewhat confused by the local variations in spelling the town name, he was advised to consult the Steward of the Manor and the vicar, which he did, but this led to even further confusion when these worthy men couldn’t agree. The vicar assured Brunel’s surveyor it was Paignton, while the steward, equally adamant, insisted it was Paington, so to satisfy them both the surveyor put on his report ‘Paignton or Paington’. With the station completed, name boards were duly set up on each platform, one as ‘Paignton’ and the other as ‘Paington’.

These two boards remained thus for many years, causing frequent criticism and much amusement, until the day a new stationmaster asked the postmaster which way the postal authorities spelt the name and was told it was ‘Paignton’. The worthy stationmaster decided there and then that this must be the correct spelling so promptly had ‘Paington’ blotted out, much to the regret of Paigntonians who enjoyed teasing visitors with the conundrum. As it happens time and research have shown that the steward was probably right all along! (W.E. Couldrey, Memories, 1932)

OLD PN’TUN

Old Pn’tun, as the locals used to call their town, grew up around the lovely eleventh-century parish church with such descriptive street names as Mill Lane, Well Street, Duck Street (renamed Princes Street at the local residents’ request in 1881), and Church Street, which in the eighteenth century became known as Culverhey, possibly relating to a dove/pigeon-house that existed in the mid-sixteenth-century, but may also refer to an old cross. The name Culverhey, however doesn’t refer to the bishop’s huge culverts that run under Church Street from the nearby Bishop’s Palace, dating from around the same period as the church. Well Street originates from an ancient holy well that gushed out a strong flow of ice-cold water towards the sea, the power of which the bishops harnessed for turning their corn mill, although it is thought there may have been a Saxon mill before then. It has also been said the Romans knew the settlement as ‘Mollendunam’, meaning the place of the mill; although it is considered highly unlikely, there are reasons to think there might be some truth in this as some Roman coins were found in the St Michael’s area, albeit some years ago now.

When the bishops moved into the manor they would have required considerable quantities of wine for their church ceremonies as well as for personal consumption. On the north-westerly side of the Bishop’s Palace a hill ascends sharply allowing a sheltered south-easterly aspect, a good position for their vineyards, and thus Winner Street (ME winyard – Oxford English Dictionary) got its name, but this street didn’t start to develop as a trading area until after Henry VIII closed down the Bishop’s Palace and from then on the bishop’s vineyards were neglected. From time unknown beneath this hillside were at least three court-farms (small enclosed units) all in the form of strip farms and all long since disappeared, although there is one building with an entrance arch and passageway through which can still be seen remnants of old buildings and steps leading up onto Winner Hill.

An eighteenth-century painting of Church Street, the site of the Charter Fair of 1294-5. (Peggy Parnell)

The earliest known drawing of Paignton’s old mill, c. 1835. (Peggy Parnell, PP&LHS)

It is just possible one or two of these enclosed farms may have been associated with the bishops’ vineyards that once – existed on this hill, but over time, became altered to suit the problems faced by the population that inevitably followed the bishops’ departure. Certainly, by the late sixteenth century apple orchards for a growing cider industry became all important, so the arrangements of these farms were probably altered to accommodate the inevitable changes taking place, in particular the introduction of a new type of cabbage called flat-poles, used for cattle feed, as well as a sweet verity for culinary use. With the increase in corn production, corn-merchants and nurserymen appeared. By the nineteenth century these court farms had become family-run enterprises complete within themselves; with cottages, stables, milking parlours, or whatever, depending on the type of work being carried out within them. The best known was seventeenth-century Distin’s Court, which by the late nineteenth century became so badly neglected it was finally demolished to allow the Baptist church to extend. By this time cattle slaughtering had expanded into a large industry, creating a considerable number of butchers’ shops, and as the population expanded so did alehouses to cater for their alcohol needs.

WHEN BISHOPS HELD PAIGNTON

Markets existed in most medieval towns and were profitable to their owners. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries townspeople could apply for a charter to secure freedom from external control and gain various privileges, but the Bishops of Exeter held the old ‘burg’ – which meant that in 1295 it would have been Bishop Bitton who applied to the king for Paignton’s charter. Because of this the town missed out on any municipal rights.

The medieval system was complicated, for if your town was unfortunate enough to be held, as Paignton was, by the church then it was the bishop who collected tolls and fees (stallagium – about 50p today) from the traders and occasionally from the customers, and sometimes even charged booth and stall holders the same. Even so, before any market could start trading permission had to be gained from the local judge (reeve) for the legal right to trade with outsiders from other towns across the area. In most cases the king ratified this, but in Paignton’s case it’s more likely to have been the bishop. Whether king or bishop, his glove would almost certainly have been sent as a sign of approval. Ceremonies such as this were commonplace and usually accompanied by a poem and very likely, as happened in many towns at the opening of their market, a shower of hot pennies that would be thrown down from a window onto a crowd of children below.

A COVERING OF STRAW

In the early 1900s, people were still using pony and trap and goods were delivered in horse-drawn vans. The roads and streets were not tarmac as they are today, not even sanded and sprayed, with the result that they soon became rutted and bumpy; consequently the iron-tyred horse-drawn vehicles crashed deafeningly through the streets making a terrible din. If someone was very ill, a thick covering of straw was laid on the road outside the sick person’s house to abate the noise, which was done for several days outside Jack Preston’s butcher’s shop, while his wife lay dying in a room above.

FAIRS WERE DIFFERENT

Fairs were slightly different from markets, the latter being held for the convenience of the townspeople and those living close by, whereas fairs attracted visitors from far and wide and were nearly always associated with a saint or nearby shrine. In Paignton’s case they were granted jointly in 1294–5 on the Vigil Feast and Morrow of Trinity Sunday. With the market and fair being as one they were held simultaneously in Church Street (Fore Street) in front of the ‘Porch’, which according to W.G. Couldrey probably meant the palace entrance.

In many towns and cities, as for example Exeter during its Lammas Fair, a large stuffed glove was paraded through the town and fixed to the Guildhall roof. In the case of an ancient ‘burg’ like Paignton the glove was probably fixed to a staging, most likely erected outside the west door of the parish church. This age-old custom not only denoted the opening of a fair, but also signalled to the outside merchants they could now enter the town without fear of arrest. Interestingly, Paignton’s stocks were always situated outside the church ready for any troublemaking that inevitably followed a day of cider-drinking!

In 1935, following the Silver Jubilee celebrations, the residents of Church Street turned back the centuries when they recreated the town’s ancient market and fayre of 1295. Much merriment took place with dancing in the street, fancy costumes and, of course, the old stocks set ready for use! There were roasted chestnuts, sizzling sausages and fabulous ham sandwiches, the latter obtained from Billy Hooper’s shop on the corner of Crown & Anchor Way (one of the town’s many butchers and site of the seventeenth-century coaching inn), probably all washed down with pints of good local cider. Behind Hooper’s shop was an old slaughter building. On this occasion it was used for anyone who wished to rid themselves of any inhibitions by throwing stones at a pile of old china. This fair certainly had a medieval air complete with a town crier, a well-known dairyman called Leo Head who, while shouting ‘Oyez! Oyez!’, rang his one and only ice-cream bell complete with crack!

The years passed and shops like Martin’s drapery, Osborn’s tailoring and Carter’s sweet shop were demolished, and with them went the heart of old Church Street. Remembered in particular was a small Down’s Syndrome girl who used to sit on the pavement outside Carter’s, a large metal grating in front of her where many a customer lost their small change. This grill covered the bishop’s diverted stream that once flowed down towards the corn mill. These old buildings (Martin’s drapery and Carter’s sweet shop) had character and were of a good age. As if this wasn’t enough, in addition to their demise the island cottages at the top of Church Street were also removed – all sacrificed for road widening.

Even so, right up to the mid-1950s Church Street with its fine parish church was still to a great extent the hub of old Paignton, where during the summer months personalities like Miss Eggins would sit at the top of the Bishop’s Tower selling ‘objets d’art’ in aid of the parish church.

Now, in the twenty-first century, most of Paignton’s old buildings, subjected over the years to so many changes, have either been altered out of all recognition or completely demolished, but a few are still left.

CHAPTER TWO

Tall Stories

DRINK UP YUR ZIDER!

Storytelling used to take place during the long winter months when it was too dark to work in the fields. These yarns were passed between farmers either in the warmth of their homes or the local pub and one in particular was repeated many times, being that of a lad who went to fetch some cider for his boss. In true Devonian vernacular it goes something like this:

The gaffer said to the boy, ‘Go to pub and get quart of zider’. The lad went off across the field towards the stile, but as he climbed over he knocked the jug and broke it. With only the handle in his hand he continued to the pub where the landlord asked him, ‘What do ’e want?’

‘Two pints of zider for t’ boss,’ the boy replied.

The landlord enquired, ‘Where be going to put zider then?’

‘In’t jug,’ the boy said, lifting the handle.

‘But you’ve only got ’andle!’ the landlord exclaimed.

The boy took off his trilby hat and turning it over indicated, ‘In yer.’

The landlord raised his eyebrows somewhat but did as he was bid. Some cider was left so he asked, ‘Where be going to put rest?’

Turning the hat over, the boy again pointed, ‘In yer!’

The lad now walked back very carefully so as not to spill a drop. On arrival his boss asked, ‘Where be me zider?’

The boy held out his hat. On looking at the hat his gaffer asked, ‘But where be rest of zider?’

The boy smiled and, turning the hat over, replied, ‘In yer!’

A PRICKLY SITUATION

At the end of a busy market day in Totnes, farmers who had more than their fill of cider often fell asleep in the pub, whereupon their less inebriated friends would carry them out and prop them up in their carts. Then, patting the ponies on their rumps, they sent their mates trotting over the bridge towards Paignton and home. A pretty reliable arrangement one would have thought, except for the day when one farmer’s pony decided to stop at the roadside for some light refreshment. The abrupt change of direction caused the farmer to wake up and, seeing a massive shape looming up in front of him and thinking he was about to be attacked, lashed out only to find himself in the arms of a gigantic thistle!

Starkey, Knight & Ford brewery in Princes Street. (Peggy Parnell)

THREE STRONG MEN

At least twice a day horses and cattle would be taken to the stone water trough in Colley End for a drink and Paigntonians, like the animals, also needed that occasional drink! A local character called Tug, who worked for the local council, regularly popped into the Victoria pub for a quickie, but one cold winter’s evening, having had a jar too many, slipped on the cobbles outside and fell flat on his back. At that precise moment it was his misfortune that the local bobby happened by and, in no uncertain voice, bellowed ‘Get up!’

Came a feeble voice, ‘Can’t, three strong men are holding me down.’

‘And whooooo’, drawled the bobby, ‘are the three men?’

Tug weakly replied, ‘Starkey, Knight and Ford!’

LUNCH BREAK

A local plumber and his apprentice were having their break while carrying out a job in Roundham. The lady of the house offered the plumber a napkin. ‘Thank you very much,’ said the plumber. The lady turned to the apprentice and asked, ‘Would you like one?’

The apprentice replied, ‘If he can eat one, so can I!’

HELPFUL CITIZEN

A convict had escaped from Princetown prison and police were checking vehicles across the moor. Leo Head had just been watching a dairy herd and, on seeing a nearby policeman, got off his bike and asked, ‘Would you like to search my saddlebag?’

CHAPTER THREE

The Legend of Coverdale Tower

The question has to be asked, why did nineteenth-century Paigntonians refer to the old tower in Bishop’s Place as the ‘Coverdale Tower’? Was it perhaps a figment of their imagination, or a desire to promote their small farming town as a place of some importance by attaching a well-known historical name to a building that once belonged to the Bishops of Exeter, but then why particularly Miles Coverdale? Or was there perhaps an element of truth in what the locals were saying? Unfortunately ‘word of mouth’ is not sufficient and now, regrettably with lack of evidence to back up their story, the connection with Miles Coverdale and the fine old watchtower has been dropped, although until quite recently Paigntonians remained resolute that he lived in the tower and while there translated and corrected Tyndale’s English Bible, so much so they even named a road, several houses and a business after him.

Today Coverdale’s connection with the old tower is considered highly unlikely, as it is well known he spent considerable periods abroad while rewriting Tyndale’s work. But if the legend is correct and he did use the tower in 1535, one must ask why was he in the tower when the palace was still in existence and why Paignton. Perhaps a journey back in time might throw some light on this legend.

Miles Coverdale was a child of Yorkshire parents, born it is said near Middleham in 1488, probably in a district then known as Cover-dale in the North Riding of Yorkshire. He entered Cambridge University to study philosophy and theology, was ordained as a priest at Norwich in 1514, then in 1523 entered the convent of Augustinian friars at Cambridge, where he met a prior called Robert Barnes who introduced him to the Protestant ideas of Calvin and Luther, the ‘New Religion’ as it was becoming known. When Barnes was tried for heresy in 1526 Coverdale assisted in his defence, then promptly left the convent of friars to give himself entirely to preaching. Coverdale and Barnes had researched the works of Augustine, which led them to the Bible. Having made a thorough study of the scriptures they encouraged many other students and ministers of the church to look more deeply into Christianity and Biblical theology. At Thomas More’s house Coverdale met Thomas Cromwell who became a good friend and supporter. He also became involved in a secret group that met at the White Horse Tavern, Cambridge, where many theological questions were discussed; because of their connections with the new Protestant thinking that was sweeping across Europe, this tavern was given the code name Germany. In 1528 Coverdale was informed against and because he was in danger of being burnt for heresy he quickly left for Europe, where he met and listened first hand to those two eminent reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin. In Hamburg he arranged a meeting with Tyndale but owing to an accident his letter was delayed. However, they did meet eventually and together worked on the Old Testament.

Because Luther’s writings were suppressed in England in 1525, Tyndale’s first English translation of the New Testament was done secretly in Hamburg and printed in Worms in 1526. It is said this Bible, initially 15,000 copies, was smuggled into England in bales of merchandise, sold very cheaply and proved very popular throughout the country. But the convocation (an assembly of English bishops) was none too happy with the problems that might follow this publication so the Mayor of London, \Cuthbert Tonsall, bought up every copy and had the lot burnt. With the money gained from this, Tyndale ran another edition, but unfortunately Thomas More exposed the inaccuracies in his new translation. In fact the convocation had no desire to withhold the scriptures from the public. Their only wish was to prevent errors being printed. When it became clear that the public would not be satisfied without an English version of the Bible, the convocation recommended that the bishops should make a new translation that could be issued on their authority. Meanwhile several private concerns had started publishing and circulating their own versions of the Bible – the first was by Thomas Cromwell, the king’s vice-regent and Coverdale’s friend. The many variations in these editions strongly indicated a need for a more careful and scholarly rendering. Cromwell, having already convinced Henry VIII of the need for an official English Bible, invited Coverdale to edit and correct Tyndale’s inaccuracies, but this still didn’t meet with the approval of the convocation or the crown; even so, Coverdale’s corrected version of Tyndale’s Bible was eventually completed and under Thomas Cromwell’s protection an English printer published it on 4 October 1535. The finished copies duly appeared in the market place and have ever since been considered the first English Bible. Subsequently more revisions and translations were produced, apparently with the assistance of Coverdale, one in Paris in 1540 becoming known as ‘Cranmer’s’ or the ‘Great Bible’.

From 1543 to 1547, the year in which Henry VIII died, Coverdale was travelling on the Continent. Returning to England in 1547, he stayed at Windsor Castle where the Windsor Commission was preparing the first Book of Common Prayer. But he was soon to discover the church and its clergy were in turmoil. In fact it was total chaos, with the highest officers of the realm wantonly destroying and appropriating holy things, while people availed themselves of coffins to use as horse-troughs and adapting altar cloths, vestments and Eucharist vessels for domestic purposes. According to the English Church History (1904) ‘it was harvest time for thieves and high holiday for the profane’. Things went from bad to worse when episcopal manors were seized through a system of forced exchanges, thus impoverishing the sees, incomes were withheld from vicars and the whole thing became a regular plan to defraud the episcopate; but young King Edward VI soon put a stop to these unlawful activities.

Before Coverdale was sent down to Devon in 1549 as chaplain to Lord Russell to help quieten the Prayer Book rebellion, he had been commissioned to prosecute those who infringed the new Book of Common Prayer, and at the same time he also preached at the penance of some Anabaptists. Immediately following this incident, which had occurred on the second Sunday in Lent, Coverdale’s powerful preaching caused the sacrament at the high altar of St Paul’s in London to be pulled down. So, as can be seen, Miles Coverdale was as much a rebel against the establishment as anyone else and certainly did his best to turn the hearts of the rebels with his persuasive preaching. Indeed he was one of the most effective preachers of his time. For all this he was highly thought of at court and was often at Windsor Castle. In 1550 he was made suffragan bishop in the diocese of Exeter; he also became Queen Catherine Parr’s almoner and chaplain to Edward VI. In 1551, on the enforced retirement and recommendation of Bishop Voysey, who had reached an almost mythical age of around 100, Miles Coverdale was appointed Bishop of Exeter, the see at this time included Devon and Cornwall.

Edward VI’s recent Act of Parliament ended the customary method of appointing bishops, who now had to be consecrated on the authority of royal letters patent. The Act also provided that all episcopal acts of jurisdiction should be done in the king’s name and that a bishop’s office would now only be tenable at the king’s pleasure instead of for life, which meant any obstructive bishop could be quickly dismissed. On the king’s authority Miles Coverdale was thus consecrated on 14 August 1551 by Archbishop Cranmer at Croydon instead of in Exeter Cathedral. On taking up his post in Exeter, following his first sermon on the new faith, two attempts were made to poison him. Coverdale was also horrified to discover the cathedral had been virtually stripped clean. According to The Lives of the Bishops of Exeter (published in Exeter in 1861 by the Revd George Oliver), on 20 December 1551 ‘Coverdale ordained a number of deacons and on 1 January 1552 he ordained on the same day a deacon and a priest in the chapel of his palace, but all other ordinations were conducted in his cathedral.’ What is meant by this phrase is not quite clear. Was the palace being referred to the one at Exeter or one of the other fourteen throughout the diocese? It is said that of all Bishop Voysey’s palaces only three remained intact at his retirement and one surely must have been Exeter. On the other hand, since Bishop Quivil’s time (1280-91) the palace at Paignton, having had close connections with the Precentor of Exeter Cathedral and although in need of considerable repair was still in existence in 1553 having escaped seizure by the forced exchange system. It is known the chapel of St Mary’s at Paignton had been used for many ordinations and ecclesiastical meetings over the years.

The report on the Lives of the Bishops of Exeter also states that under the new juristic powers Coverdale, apart from trying to maintain his position in the cathedral, must have found it very painful having to join the king’s commission, which consisted of two knights, Sir Peter Carewe and Sir Thomas Denys, the mayor of Exeter and an alderman (a mayor’s assistant), and having to insist that his own dean and chapter appear before the commission in his palace on 30 September 1552 to answer questions relating to the cathedral’s jewels, plate and other ornaments, which may have had something to do with the pilfering that had being going on in the cathedral. Again the text does not state which palace, so one presumes it to be Exeter. However, Sir Peter Carewe and Sir Thomas Denys were two well-known names associated with the manor of Paignton in both the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and, as already mentioned, the Palace Chapel of St Mary had been used for many episcopal meetings before the reformation, so was it perhaps here that this meeting took place?

A lithograph showing the remains of the Bishop’s Palace at Paignton. By the late eighteenth century there was still a considerable amount of the chapel left. (Peggy Parnell)

In 1545 Henry VIII entrusted Thomas Speke with the Manor of Paignton, which he held until Queen Mary bestowed it on Lord Pembroke in 1557. In an old tourist book of Torbay from the early twentieth century there was a line that read, ‘Coverdale loved his palace of Paignton.’ Certainly he had two years as bishop during Speke’s tenure when he could have visited the palace, even though it is said the building had been officially closed six years earlier in 1547.