Reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith.
'Or from Buckland the walk may be prolonged 2 or 3 miles to Widecombe Church, known as the Cathedral of Dartmoor, a fine fane indeed for such a lonely situation, and much to large for its congregation. It is said to have been oraginally built by the tin miners as a thanks offering in the 15th century...
...The neighborhood [of Widdecombe-in-the-Moor] has a bad name for thunder-storms, and a notorious one in 1638 seriously damaged the tower, as may still be seen, and is recorded in some quaint lines by the villiage dominie, displayed on a board on the wall. Four of the congregation where killed and many injured by this catastrophe, which of course gave rise to grim legends of diabolical agency.'
Hope Moncrieff 1895
