St Andrews Church Colyton

After an early morning planting session on the allotment, great that its a bit cooler today, it was off to Colyton with two friends from the Camera Club.  We were having a nosy around as a prelude to a Camera Club outing we planned for next month.  

I had previously visited while on various walks and knew it was a place of great historic interest.  We went on the historic tour learning how Henry V111 fell out with the Courtenay's and executed him and seizing their land including much of Colyton.  The land was subsequently repurchased by some of the local people who managed to raise enough money and the Colyton Chamber of Feoffees was set up.  They enabled the following to be built: a grammar school in 1546, a water supply in 1641 along with a fire brigade and street lighting in 1858. 

Colyton was a wealthy town in the Middle Ages with a thriving wool trade and apparently the octagonal lantern built on the top of the Norman Church, shown in the blip,  is a rare feature and was based on plans from ones seen in Bruges when the merchants were trading there. We also visited the Tannery which is the only surviving oak bark tannery producing thick leather hides mainly for the Japanese belt trade, 

I have included extras of the full Church building, a view from the Church grounds and the Brick House which is made of very old bricks.