The man who lived too long - Wimborne Minster

Inside Wimborne Minster church

"In the south aisle beneath an arch is a raised black marble coffin, painted with heraldic shields, and guarded by iron railings, which contains the remains of a very eccentric old gentleman, named Ettrick, the first Recorder of Poole. He had a conviction (probably created by some dream) that he should die in 1691, and had his coffin thus prepared, and the date cut on it. But his previsions proved false; he survived till 1717, and the alteration of the date on the coffin is visible. He fixed it in position with his own hands; for in a fit of anger, caused by some offence the people of Wimborne had given him, he had vowed to be buried neither in their church nor out of it, neither above their ground nor below it. In order to keep this paradoxical vow he obtained permission to place his coffin within the thickness of the wall, and on a level with the pavement. He left a sum of twenty shillings a year for the repairs in trust with the corporation of Poole."

Valentine (undated) 

Map - Wimborne Minster