The Church of St Margaret and St Andrew’s, Littleham can trace its origins back to Saxon times. It sits in the historic part of the old village in a very pretty setting. The beautifully kept churchyard surrounding the church is a peaceful place to sit and contemplate. Here you will find the grave of Viscountess Nelson, her tomb being surrounded by railings and accessed to the right of the path as you enter the churchyard. Her son is also buried here but the site of his grave is unknown. Other famous people interred here are L C H Palairet, the famous Somerset and England cricketer, and Daniel Warren of Minehead who was the first originator of the Submarine Telegraph. Further away from the church is another part of the cemetery that has been allowed to grow wild and beyond that is a further one that is well kept. Both these further cemeteries have wonderful views and can be accessed on Littleham Road from a lychgate about three hundred yards up from the church or by walking through the main lychgate that leads up to the church and then following the path.
From 1139 the monks of Sherborne served the parish. During a vacancy at the Abbey in 1213 King John gave Littleham Church to Nicholas de Adham, a clerk at the abbey, for life. As a result of this in 1234 the Bishop of Exeter gave the church to the Dean and Chapter of Exeter Cathedral. Since then, the Bishop of Exeter has appointed all clerics at Littleham. The present church can trace its history back to the 13th century and in the 16th century the Drake family of Pratteshayes paid for the addition of the North Aisle. The church was restored between 1883 – 1884 at a cost of £1660. (Picture Credit: Bill Sleeman Collection). A Sunday school was established in 1820. The organ is by Norman & Beard.
As with all churches, tales abound of local characters and there are two in particular I will recount here. Around 1780 at The First and Last Inn in Exmouth a wager was made to one Tally Jack, an Italian, for a quart of cider that he would not go to Littleham and lie in a freshly dug open grave. The thought of a free quart of cider proved irresistible to Jack and he accepted the bet. He set off and unbeknown to him the wager had been overheard by others in the inn and these men followed him to Littleham. Jack duly arrived at the cemetery and having found a freshly dug open grave proceeded to lie in it. The men who had followed him found some shovels and having stealthily crept up to the grave started to fill it in. Jack jumped out and the men dropped their shovels and fled and Jack chased them all the way back to the inn – there to claim his quart of cider!
The second tale is of one Lionel Bradford who it is said “Saw a spirit rise from the grave”. He always whistled on his way across the graveyard on his way to work every morning. Early one day he was taking his usual shortcut across the graveyard, whistling as usual, when a man’s head popped up from a grave and said “What’s the time Lionel?”. Lionel, in horror, ran for all he was worth. Later that day on his way home he finally learnt that a villager, Jack Franks had had rather a lot to drink in The Plough the previous evening and while taking a shortcut home in the dark fell into the open grave and slept there. Lionel’s whistling woke him up and he popped his head up to get the time!
If you would like me to cover any particular aspect of Exmouth’s history, please do e-mail me at mike.menhenitt@btinternet.com or leave a note at the museum and I will see what I can do. Thank you.
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