Ottery St Mary items of interest.
Wikipedia says……
“The place-name 'Ottery St Mary' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where
it appears as 'Otri' and 'Otrei'. 'Oteri Sancte Marie' is first mentioned in 1242. The town
takes its name from the River Otter on which it stands, the river taking its name from the
animal. The 'St Mary' element refers to the fact that the town belonged to the church of St
Mary in Rouen in 1086.
The town was the birthplace of the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, where his
father, the Reverend John Coleridge, was a well-respected vicar. The noted diplomat Sir
Ernest Satow spent his retirement (1906–29) here at a house called Beaumont, which still
stands. Sir Ernest was buried in the churchyard; there is a commemorative plaque to him
in the church.
Ottery's notable buildings include the Tumbling Weir and St Mary's church. The town is
the site of The King's School, now a comprehensive school, a former grammar school
founded in 1545 by Henry VIII, and Ottery St Mary Primary School.”
Aircraft Crash-landing in Ottery St Mary in July 1980
One evening in July 1980, a disaster was narrowly averted when an aircraft on approach
to Exeter Airport crash-landed just on the outskirts of the town, in a field where the
cricket club now stands. The aircraft, an Alidair Vickers Viscount turboprop, flying 62
passengers from Santander to Exeter was eleven miles short of the runway over a wooded
area on East Hill, just before the town, when it ran out of fuel and all four engines
stopped.
The pilot, who knew the area, was able to bank left and glide over the town's southern
edge and make a wheels-up crash-landing in a field. The aircraft was put down at 19.53
hrs, in daylight, near St Saviours' Bridge, in a small grassy valley studded with trees. The
was 27 year-old aircraft was written off in the crash.[17] The only casualties were two
sheep.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch concluded that the accident had been primarily
caused by the crew's mistaken belief that there was sufficient fuel on board to complete
the flight. The aircraft's unreliable fuel gauges, the company's pilots' method of
establishing total fuel quantity and the imprecise company instructions regarding the use
of dipsticks were also considered to be major contributory factors. Meter indications on
the refuelling vehicle at Santander, which could not have accurately reflected the quantity
of fuel delivered, were also considered to have been a probable contributory factor.
The accident investigation report concluded, however, that the aircraft commander's
handling of the emergency once the aircraft's four engines stopped had been skilful and
assured. Had he not acted in the way he did there could have been a considerable loss of
life both for aircraft passengers and for residents of the town. One of the propellers from
the aircraft was later donated by the airline to the town to be auctioned for charity.
The town still lies under the flightpath for Exeter International Airport. Aircraft regularly
pass overhead, mostly turboprops operated by Flybe. There are about 20 such flights a
day.
Great Fire of 1866
"On 25 May 1866 a great fire occurred in Ottery St Mary. The fire started about noon and
the raged through the homes and shops of about a quarter of the town, reducing
everything to ashes. The fire started on Jesu Street where the charity schools formerly
stood. At first some people believed that the fire had been started by children playing
with matches, but subsequent investigation has now proved this to be incorrect. It appears
that the fire was started by a woman burning rubbish and papers in her cottage fireplace
on Thursday. The fire smouldered and eventually burned through the wall to the school
next door. It was eventually discovered at the top of the staircase in the schoolroom, near
the cottage chimney around noon on Friday. It then spread very rapidly. Within hours one
hundred houses had been destroyed, and 500 people rendered homeless – 10% of the
population. A great part of the town extending westwards from the school to the silk
factory in Mill Street was reduced to a heap of smouldering ruins."
IF YOU KNOW OF OTHER INTERSTING TITBITS ABOUT THE TOWN, PLEASE
PASS IT ON TO mjodutton@tiscali.co.uk