The Parish Church of St John the Baptist, Lustleigh, now a Grade 1 listed building, stands in a graveyard which is roughly oval and which is surrounded by a road. Enclosed graveyards of this type are called ‘lans’ and are well known west of the Tamar and in Wales. There is every reason to suppose that Lustleigh was a fifth or sixth-century Christian graveyard and quite possibly occupied the site of an even earlier pagan place of burial.
https://www.moretonbenefice.uk/
https://www.moretonbenefice.uk/benefice/st-johns-lustleigh/
https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/8862/
The earliest part of the present church is the 13th-century chancel. Unusual features are: a double piscina on the south wall; pierced corbels above either end of the communion rail for the hanging of a Lenten veil; a triple sedilia in the south wall, and an Easter sepulchre in the north wall.
Datuidoc’s stone stands at the west end of the north aisle, having been removed from a position in the paving below the inner doorway of the church porch to preserve it from further wear. It belongs within a well-recognised series of commemorative stones erected in the post-Roman period between about AD 450 and 600. The Latin inscription probably read, Datuidoci Conhinoci filius, ‘The stone of Datuidoc the son of Conhinoc’. Lustleigh is one of only four church sites in Devon with an inscribed stone.
Extracts taken from A Brief Guide to the History and Architecture of the Parish Church of Saint John the Baptist, Lustleigh – available from the church, price 50p.
https://www.moretonbenefice.uk/benefice/st-johns-lustleigh/
Photo: Lustleigh - Parish Church © Colin Smith :: Geograph Britain and Ireland
Historic England Parish church. C15 or early C16 with C13 chancel and C19 vestry. Roughcast stone; the tower, porch and buttresses of north aisle of granite ashlar. Slated roofs. Nave, chancel, south transept and porch, north aisle; vestry on east side of transept. Chancel has triple lancet window on east and single lancet window on north. The north aisle, clearly early C16, has 3-light granite windows with almost pointed heads to the lights; and straight granite hood-moulds. Deep south porch with battlements and 2-centred arched doorways, the outer with wave moulding and the inner with plain chamfer. Granite seats internally at either side, wagon roof. Plain holy water stoup. 2-stage tower with battlements and pinnacles. West doorway with moulded 2-centred arch. 2-light belfry openings with almost rounded arches.
Monuments: tomb slab of circa 550-600, previously on floor of south porch. It is inscribed DATUIDOCI CONHINOCI FILIUS; that is to say, Datiudoc son of Conhinoc. Re-set medieval effigies in wall recesses; 2 in north aisle, 1 in south transept. Some good C17 floor slabs. Information on the C6 tombstone is displayed in Lustleigh Church.
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1334119
Datuidoc Stone
Photo: Inscribed stone, Lustleigh church © Derek Harper cc-by-sa/2.0 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland
Legendary Dartmoor And did those feet in ancient times – walk upon the ancient Datuidoc Stone, and therein begins the story of this early relic which today resides inside St. John’s Church at Lustleigh. As can be seen below, today the Datuidoc Stone is securely fixed to the west end wall of the north aisle however this was not always the case. It is thought that the stone began life sometime between AD 450 and 600. Then for whatever reason between then and 1979 it was ‘recycled’ to become part of the church’s doorstep where numerous ancient footsteps gradually wore down its surface. For varying reasons the stone has attracted many questions along with some controversy in its later life. What was its purpose, who was ‘Datuidoc, how did the complete inscription read, why was it moved?
https://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/datuidoc-stone.htm
Holidays in Dartmoor Zoom in on Google's satellite imagery and you'll see that the graveyard surrounding Lustleigh St John the Baptist Church is an oval shape. According to experts, this suggests that the church was built on a much older pagan burial ground. Evidence for this can be found inside the church in the form of Datuidoc's Stone.
The excellent church guide states that Datuidoc's Stone, or the Datuidoci Stone, 'belongs within a well recognised series of commemorative stones erected in the post-Roman period between AD450 to 600. Lustleigh is one of only 4 church sites in Devon with an inscribed stone'. The stone commemorated the burial of Datuidoc in a Roman-British cemetery on the site of the present church.
http://holidayindartmoor.co.uk/lustleigh/datuidocs-stone-36193.html
Celtic Inscribed Stones Project 'The Lustleigh churchyard shows all the classic features of an Early Christian enclosed graveyard of the type well known in Cornwall and Wales, and probably also in north Devon.'
Swanton, M. and S. Pearce (1982) 'Lustleigh, South Devon: its inscribed stone, its churchyard and its parish', in S. Pearce (ed.) The Early Church in Western Britain and Ireland, 139--142. Oxford.
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/cisp/database/site/lustl.html
'The stone was first noted in a manuscript of mid-eighteenth century date, presented to the Bodleian Library, Oxford, in 1757. The stone was then described as the `threshold-stone of the South Door' of Lustleigh church. The stone appears to have remained in this position, that is being used as the step of the inner doorway of the south porch, until 13 March 1979, when it was moved to its present position'.
Okasha, E. (1993) Corpus of Early Christian Inscribed Stones of South-west Britain. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/cisp/database/stone/lustl_1.html
Wray Valley Trail
This trail is a great way to explore the Wray Valley, following in the footsteps of the Victorians who built the Newton Abbot to Moretonhampstead railway in 1866.
The 11km, mainly traffic free, route links Bovey Tracey to Moretonhampstead. It follows the line of the old railway, which was closed to passengers in 1959, taking you through the National Trust Parke Estate and past the picturesque villlage of Lustleigh.
The trail has been several years in the making and has involved major works including 2 new bridges across the A382. Devon County Council has worked with local landowners and Dartmoor National Park to ensure the trail will benefit everyone.
178 Newton Abbot – Okehampton via Moretonhampstead & Chagford
Monday to Saturday. Two buses from Newton Abbot to Moretonhampstead, one continuing to Okehampton
Bus Stops: Newton Abbot Sherborne Road (Stop B) - Liverton Benedicts Road (N-bound) - Coldeast Cummings Cross (N-bound) - Bovey Tracey Dolphin Square (N-bound) - Bovey Tracey Lloyds Pharmacy (Stop A) - Lustleigh Turn (SW-bound) - Lustleigh Bishops Stone (S-bound) - Lustleigh, opp Eastwrey Barton Hotel - Moretonhampstead Square (Stop D) - Moretonhampstead Court Street Car Park (Stop A) - Chagford Easton Cross (NW-bound) - Chagford The Square (SE-bound) - Chagford Easton Cross (S-bound) - Chagford Sandypark Inn (NW-bound) - Whiddon Down Post Inn (W-bound) - S Zeal Oxenham Arms (NW-bound) - S Tawton Church (W-bound) - S Zeal The Croft (S-bound) - Sticklepath, opp Devonshire Inn - Okehampton Giblands Park (NW-bound) - Okehampton Hunters Gate (S-bound) - Okehampton Fore Street Arcade (Stop C) - Okehampton Market Street (Stop E)
http://countrybusdevon.co.uk/178-newton-abbot-okehampton-via-moretonhampstead-chagford/
https://bustimes.org/services/178-okehampton-moretonhampstead-newton-abbot
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/countrybus/ (398)
