Bewitching Bovey HOME

This grand church looms over Bovey Tracey, casting an eye far across the rolling hills. While the site itself has had a church since Saxon times, this beautiful building stands as a monument for penance of the most heinous crime of all. Cold blooded murder.

In the year 1170, tensions were running high between Henry II and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket. Once good friends, Becket had made a habit of not doing what the king told him to, which is usually a recipe for trouble. After a series of disputes, a spell in exile and a few excommunications later, King Henry was at the end of his tether. He cried out in frustration “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”. Contemporary opinion debates whether King Henry was explicitly saying ‘I want Thomas Beckett killed’ but the end result was four overly keen knights travelling to Canterbury in the dead of night and brutally murdering Thomas Becket.

The knights were Reginald FitzUrse, Hugh de Morville, Richard le Bret and William de Tracy.

King Henry had his own problems to deal with after the murder, as it did not go down well with the general public. He did not arrest the knights but advised them to flee to Scotland, which they did.

In an effort to repent for his sins, William de Tracy had the church you are looking at now rebuilt. Whether this absolved him of his sins remains a mystery, as only the reaper knows our final tally.

Bonus Activity:
Inside the church is the golden eagle lectern, which holds a secret! If you pop a coin in the eagles beak, it will poop it out. This was designed to be used in the annual Peter Pence’s ceremony, a tax levied for maintaining the Holy See in Rome.

Sources:
pptbovey.church/history/
www.britishmuseum.org/blog/thomas-becket-murder-shook-middle-ages
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_de_Tracy
www.boveytracey.gov.uk/Bovey-Tracey-History/inBovey/
www.britainexpress.com/counties/devon/churches/bovey-tracey.htm