The Ghost of Venn Ottery

                       .......but was it the Venn Ottery ghost?? In defence of Marshall Ayer....

There is indeed a memorial to Marshall Ayer (Hare) and his family at the back of Venn Ottery church next to the font. The Ayer family go back to the 1600's in Venn Ottery with many of them being baptised, married and buried in the church. Marshall Ayers is described as a ' Devon gent' who was a respected landowner. He owned Minors, a  beautiful thatched house, which is near to the road entrance of the church. In the 15th/16th centuries Minors was associated with the church.
Marhsall died a wealthy man but in his will he left money not only to all his family and his workers, but also to the poor of Venn Ottery.
                       " to the parish of Venn Ottery for ever in the hands of the parish to
                          be lent to any poor housekeepers not recieving alms of the parish"
The poem of The Venn Ottery ghost ( which MUST be read with a broad Devon accent!) talks of strange noises and tapping coming from the stone slab memorial of Marshall Ayer and a priest was brought in to lay the ghost to rest.
But...the twist in this tale is that in the 1930's a gravedigger fell through the bottom of a freshly dug grave into a tunnel below. This tunnel appeared to run from the memorial stone in the church to the neighbouring house Minors, apparently coming out by the fireplace.
So, was it the ghost of Venn Ottery  creating havoc or someone playing tricks in the tunnel.  Unfortunately no trace of the tunnel has been found to date, but it certainly sounds intriguing, maybe it was some sort of priest tunnel.....well ...I can imagine!!
Now when I lock the church at night I am mindful of the ghost, black dogs, Marshall Hare and the tunnel, and it all makes for a very exhilarating walk!

Judith Taylor     Please email any correspondence to vennottery@hotmail.co.uk