Last week I picked Jiffy up from the hairdressers and we picked Christine and went for a walk not far from where she lives in Newton Abbot.
As I copy, from Wikepedia, here is the information :-
Puritan's Pit (also known as Preacher's Pit, The Devil's Pit or Gruti's Pit) is a large steep-sided pit in the south side of the valley of the River Lemon in Bradley Woods, just west of the town of Newton Abbot in Devon, England. It is probably a collapsed limestone cavern and although it is about 12 metres deep and some 50 metres across at its widest, it is invisible from the river and the main path on the other side.
Puritan's Pit owes its notability to Willam Yeo, a Presbyterian clergyman who was installed as Rector of Wolborough in 1648 by Oliver Cromwell. Yeo was reportedly very assiduous in his duties and would walk around the town after Sunday service with a constable, to ensure that the sabbath was kept holy. After 14 years, however he was deprived of his living for refusing to acknowledge the post-Restoration Act of Uniformity.
In the years that followed, Yeo and his supporters met in Puritan's Pit by night to worship. At this time he was effectively an outlaw as can be seen from an order of sessions that was made in 1683 offering a reward of 40 shillings to anyone who apprehended a dissenting minister. The Act of Toleration 1689 brought this episode to a close, and Yeo's house was certified to be used as a place of worship.
Today the pit can be accessed via a steep path on the south side of the river. The bottom of the pit is covered with large limestone boulders and the remains of trees that have fallen in. Well actually it's very overgrown now, but Christine said that many years ago they did do an inter-Church service there that she attended.
The steps down -
The rest of these pictures were taken on the walk
I was just so glad I managed to get to see the Puritan's Pit. Although Christine was lucky that she had actually been to a service there.
We have literally only lost our leaves over the last week,
We have literally only lost our leaves over the last week, but with temperatures staying around freezing most of the day over the last couple of days they have all gone now.
Which reminds me. I have a book to send down to you for xmas. I shall need a snail mail addy. Last month has criminally distracted me, but that's a poor excuse.
kerk
Oh, you don't need to speak to me about the days rushing past ... I can't believe where this year has gone.
15, Dryden Rd, EX2 5BS
One thing I love about LJ, being able to share photos ... and when I am able to get LJ time, good to learn about other people's history etc.