Venn Ottery Churchyard

LIVING CHURCHYARDS
Here at Venn Ottery Church we are working towards making our 'God's Acre' ablaze with native wildflowers,  alive with bees, butterflies, birds and small mammals, a sanctuary for the living aswell as the dead. Churchyards can provide a huge contribution to the biodiversity of the countryside and at the same time engage and educate the wider local community
In our churchyard we already have a little haven for wildlife, with a variety of species in residence.  There are bees living in the tower, these have been in residence for 20 years, you can hear the walls humming on warm days and they can be seen busy flying back and forth visiting plants in and around the churchyard. At night our bat colony comes to life, we have them roosting in the porch, the tower and the main church. If you see droppings in these places these are evidence of our little friends. In 2017 we took part in the Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat Survey with some great results, we were stunned by not just the amount of bats but also the variety. During the winter of 2017/18 we had a Brown long eared bat taking refuge in a draw in the vestry.
Birds can be found feeding and nesting in the churchyard, the Yew tree provides food and shelter as do the hedges that surround the church. We have Tawny Owls roosting in the tower and calling at night too. The grasses and mosses are havens for ants, worms and other insects which in turn feed the birds. The moss is also an ideal home for Bumble bees to live in, along with other types of bees and wasps. Even the headstones are hosts to an array of lichens spreading out over time. On  Sunday June 3rd after the church service we will be planting a few wildflower plants to add to the variety of flora that is already florishing here. We hope that this will encourage more wildlife into the churchyard. If you would like to make a contribution towards the planting or help please come along and if you have more ideas to make our churchyard welcoming to those seeking sanctuary please give us your suggestions.
Judith Taylor
vennotery@hotmail.co.uk

Venn Ottery Flower Festival

Venn Ottery Flower Festival.
In the midst of one of the hottest weeks of the year we embarked on the task of setting up for the festival. It was just about bearable in the cool shade of the church, and people arrived to help set up displays, dust the cobwebs and sweep the ailses.  Then the refreshment tent was set up in the beautiful garden of Patricia Avery at Minors, what a fantastic host she was, Thank you Trish. Cakes arrived and the amazing Paul and Stephanie Kinson appeared and set up the refreshments, sorting out all the extras that I  had overlooked and more, you both were a great support. Mum had made lists of people to steward the chuch and arranged for tea makers who all dutifully turned up for their shifts!
...and then the Flower Festival began.
We opened up the side door of the church giving a rare view of the tower and through the main building to the altar. It also gave a much appreciated cool breeze through the church. Not only did we have beautiful flower displays based on hymns, but old maps, documents, photographs  and newspaper reports of Venn Ottery. The Bible and Prayer book that have recently returned to the church were also on display along with a stained glass window dedicated to the Furneaux family who were given the Manor of Venn Ottery, by the King, not long after the Battle of Hastings.
We ended the week with a Songs of Praise service, with all the doors open and the sound of the blackbirds in the chuchyard
Thank you so much to everyone who took part in the flower festival and all those who came to visit, some visiting Venn Ottery for the first time.
Thanks to everyones effort (and perspiration!) not only did the church look beautiful, we all raised over £600.

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

Venn Ottery from above

This aerial shot was taken above Venn Ottery, @eyeskygroup , 16th May 16