The Parish Church of Ottery St. Mary in the neighbouring county of Devonshire.

I recently passed through the Devonshire town of Ottery St. Mary and stopped to take a few photos of its Parish Church.  The Church, which Simon Jenkins in his England’s Thousand Best Churches (Allen Lane, 1999) describes as being a miniature Exeter Cathedral, sits on a hill dominating the town.

The Parish Church of Ottery St. Mary in Devonshire.

The inside of the church, just as impressive as the outside, had a large display celebrating the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge who was born either in the vicar’s house or the schoolmaster’s, for his father was both.  John Coleridge was, according to Arthur Mee in his The King’s England, Devon (Hodder and Stoughton, 1938) “an absent minded vicar who married twice and had 13 children” – the 13^th was Samuel the poet.

As is usually the case when I visit a church I came across an interesting commemorative plaque.  On the north wall of the nave is one dedicated to Clement George Whitby, the son of Charles and Beatrice Whitby, who was 25 years old when killed at the Battle of Maiwand on 27^th July 1880.

The battle took place during The Second Afghan War of 1878-1880.  The Collins Encyclopaedia of Military History, R.E. Dupuy and T.N. Dupuy (Harper Collins, 1993.) informs us that:

“Ayub Khan, brother of Yakub, had seized control of Herat early in the war.  Now claiming the throne, he marched on Kandahar with 25,000 men.  Lt. Gen. James Primrose, commanding at Kandahar, sent an Anglo-Indian Brigade, 2,500 strong, under Brig. Gen. G.R.S. Burroughs to Maiwand, about 50 miles northwest, to oppose the Afghan advance.

Burroughs attacked the Afghan position, but the British artillery expended all its ammunition and a flanking movement by Ayub then shattered the Indian troops, who fled.  The one British infantry battalion present was surrounded and practically annihilated; about half the remainder of the command escaped.”

Clement Whitby was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the 17^th Foot.  He was attached to the 1^st Bombay Native Infantry, and commanded the baggage guard at Maiwand.  After fighting off two attacks he joined the survivors retreating to Kandahar.  When within sight of the walls he was shot and killed.

Just a few steps below the church is a prominent, but austere, column commemorating Queen Victoria’s 60 years as monarch.  The monument was restored by the town council to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth ll. 

Ottery St. Mary's monument to Queen Victoria.

The plaque on Ottery St. Mary's monument to Queen Victoria's 60 years as monarch.

I had been able park right outside the church gates, otherwise it would have meant a steep walk up the hill from the town’s car park – something my none-too-fit lungs would be reluctant to attempt!  The Parish Church of Ottery St. Mary is well worth a second visit, which I will certainly make if I am lucky enough to find the same parking space free again.