The ‘lost village’ bulldozed to make way for the A38 – Plymouth Live

Anyone driving along the A38 between Exeter to Plymouth will have noticed many memorable sights.

Theres the Orange Elephant at Kennford, a life-size replica of aStar WarsImperial scout walker at Ashburton, and the famous Trago Towers near Newton Abbot.

But as you travel between Buckfastleigh and South Brent, off to the left hand side of the road, sits a much quainter landmark - a lonely and isolated church. Where once remote, the church is now, literally, a stones throw from the A38.

The Church of St George the Martyr in the village of Dean Prior, which dates back nearly a thousand years, lies alone, with only a handful of homes for company.

But it wasnt always like the case and prior to the construction of the Devon Expressway, it was part of one of Devons lost villages, bulldozed to make way for the new road.

The village surrounding the church once included a school and cottages, but many of these were pulled down in the 1970s to build the new road, and as a result the church only has a few neighbouring houses, while much of the parish is the other side of the A38 Devon Expressway.

There has been a church on site in Dean Prior for almost a thousand years, with a first church being of Norman origin. St George the MartyrDean Priorwas first recorded by the Bishop in 1186 as part of the possession of the Priory of Plympton, and the first known priest, Gervase of Crediton, was ordained in 1261.

Of his church, however, only the West Tower and font remain. The present building was largely rebuilt in 15 Century on the site of the earlier Norman Church, while the great yew tree in the churchyard was planted in 1780.

The main village of Dean is divided into Lower and Higher Dean with a separate hamlet of Deancombe and has a population of 160 inhabitants.

However, the parish was inevitably affected when it was cut in two by the construction of a dual carriageway.

The village surrounding the church, once included a school, and many cottages, were all demolished when the new road was built.Around the church, now lying directly to the left of the main road, had been Church Town.

Its cottages, church house and school and across the valley and now on the other side of the A38, lie Upper Dean nd Deancombe, with Lower Dean on the other side of the A38, the road that has literally spilt the village in half.

The rest of the village was dismantled for the Devon Expressway and today all that remains of these lost houses are sparse records and recollections.

According to the 2011 census, there are now just 94 males and 107 females living in the whole of parish, a total population of 201 people.

And for much of the 17 Century, one of the most accomplished nondramatic poets of his age was the churchs vicar.

Robert Herrick, the poet best known for Hesperides , a book of poems, which includes the carpe diem poem "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time", with the first line "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may", was the vicar at The Church of St George the Martyr from 1629-1674.

In 1623 Herrick took holy orders, and in 1627, he became one of the several chaplains who accompanied George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham, in a crusade to liberate French Protestants on the Isle of Rh.

But a disastrous combination of illness among the troops, effective military action by the French, and a storm at sea while Buckinghams ships were retreating to England resulted in the loss of two-thirds of the expedition.

In 1629, Herrick exchanged a life of danger for one of apparent safety by accepting a nomination to the vicarage of Dean Prior.

He was installed as vicar on October 29, 1630 and served as vicar of Dean Prior for 31 years in total, although that period was interrupted during the Civil War.

Herrick was every inch the Royalist and was ejected from his vicarage for refusing theSolemn League and Covenant, so returned to London, depended on the charity of his friends and family and then spent some time preparing his lyric poems for publication, before having them printed in 1648 under the title Hesperides; or the Works both Human and Divine of Robert Herrick , with a dedication to the Prince of Wales.

When King Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, Herrick petitioned for his own restoration to his living. He had obtained favour by writing verses celebrating the births of both Charles II and his brother James before the Civil War.

Herrick once again became the vicar of Dean Prior again in the summer of 1662 and lived there until his death in October 1674, at the age of 83.

Today,Herrick is allegedly buried in the churchs graveyard within an unmarked grave

Go here to read the rest:
The 'lost village' bulldozed to make way for the A38 - Plymouth Live