St. Michael and All Angels, East Coker
East Coker is in Somerset, but not too far from the Dorset border. The church, mostly built of Ham Hill Stone, is situated on a hill next to Coker Court, once home of the Courtenay family. The church contains memorials to William Dampier (1652-1715) the buccaneer and explorer and T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) the author and poet, whose ashes are buried here in the church of his ancestors.
A guide to St. Michael's Church, East Coker, Somerset / written by Cecil C. Foulkes in collaboration with the Rev. David Hunt, July 1987 ; revised by Mary Field, January 1997.
A 16 page A5 sized booklet containing a detailed guide to the church and its features with additional information on relevant families and personalities, including William Dampier and T.S. Eliot. A variety of other booklets are available.
8, 13 cwt. in G.
The guide book says that there have been eight bells in the church since 1770 - all eight being cast by the Bilbies of Cullompton in Devon. At the time the bells were hung in a central tower, but at the end of the eighteenth century, this was demolished and a new tower built at the east end, next to the chancel.
Ordnance Survey 1:10560 County Series 2nd edition (c.1900)
Sheet 90 Subsheet 05 (on Somerset Archive and Records Service Web pages):
http://www.somerset.gov.uk/archives/maps/os62htm/9005.htm
Church of St. Michael and All Angels, East Coker
Tablet memorial to T. S. Eliot, Church of St. Michael and All Angels, East Coker
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Maintained by Michael Day
Last updated: 20 October 2013.