Curious Dorset Churches – Part 5

– – – Exploring The Countryside and Lanes of Dorset – – –

Not so much a curious church today but rather something extremely curious inside a Dorset church. And curious in more ways than one too! In fact, is it inside or outside? Well actually, this is neither……it is the ‘man in the wall’!

The Man in the Wall

Anthony Ettricke was a 17th century barrister who was born at Holt, not far from Wimborne. He served as recorder and magistrate for the Wimborne area and his main claim to fame is that it was he who sent the Duke of Monmouth to trial and eventual execution after the Battle of Sedgemoor. The Duke was captured near Horton, fleeing for his life.

Ettricke was regarded as a pillar of the community but he was somewhat eccentric and although he did a lot of good work, he managed to fall out with the church authorities at Wimborne. In a fit of pique, he swore that he would not be buried within the church, nor in its graveyard, not above ground, nor below it!

Of course, eventually, things settled down and he made peace with the church but being a lawyer, he felt he had to honour his rashly spoken vow despite his wish to buried at the church. So he sought permission to be buried in the wall of the Minster, partly below and partly above the ground. Thus he is neither inside nor outside, and neither above nor below ground 🙂 !

The other somewhat curious thing was that Ettricke was convinced that he would die in 1693 and his coffin was prepared in advance for this. In fact, he lived 10 years longer so the date on his tomb had to be altered to 1703……and very clumsily was it done too!

The church which Ettricke is buried in….or out….is Wimborne Minster which is dedicated to St Cuthburga and dates from Saxon times. It is a magnificent and substantial church with twin towers and it would need a full blog post on its own to do it justice. However, I thought I would just post a couple of pictures to give a flavour of the wonderful building, within……or without……which the tomb stands.

I guess the moral of this curious tale is……..think before you speak 🙂 !

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,
Your friend The Dorset Rambler

If you would like to contact me, my email address is terry.yarrow@gmail.com – comments and feedback are always welcomed.

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