May 3 Stokeinteignhead

We stopped at our hotel across the tidal river Teign from Newton Abbott, left our gear in our room, grabbed a low tide pic from the room's deck, and took the same cab back past the station, down river to the headlands, tucked under which were Combeinteignhead and Stokeinteignhead, two small villages, now mostly retired folks and those in the tourist trade. (High tide from next morning.) Stokeinteighnhead was once a thriving farm town with an active fishing population. In 1632 a nephew and uncle, Thomas and William Zeavee decided to stop going every summer to the new world in their boat, and settle down on the Isles of Shoals with the folks going out to found the colony of New Hampshire, the Mason party. As newworlders have done ever since, they (or the clerk of the colony) made the spelling suit the ear, and changed the name to Seavey. Jim is a descendant of William. Other Seaveys have gone to St. Andrews church, a proper Anglican Parrish before us, and troubled the Rector for a look at the records which have been kept since 1530 where the Zeavee name is inscribed. Jim was happy just to be there in the spot where his relatives were baptized and married, the church having been built around 1270 and expanded 1n the 1400's. The wood screen between the celebrants and the congregation, a Catholic holdover, dates to 1500, and being in a rural enough location escaped all the royal fuss over religion in government (Cromwell, too). It is thought to be the oldest now in Britain. The loft at the other end was remodeled in 1865, so was not as William and Thomas would have seen it. I think the kitchen and meeting area behind the screens were maybe even more recent.
Jim spent a bit of time seeing if a variation of Zeavee showed up in the graveyard, but Evans or Every was as close as he found. Maybe he should have called the rector after all...
The town itself was way charming, we enjoyed strolling through the thatched houses, then hiked the path between gorse hedgerows up to the headlands, about ¾ mile. There we were rewarded with a view to Torquay to the west and east to Exmouth and points far down the Channel, lost in the mist.
We ended the evening in the Church House Inn, once the inn and brewery owned by the Parrish, dining on local fare and lifting a half pint in honor of the long ago Seavey's who spent many an evening (no doubt) in the same spot.