He was
followed by the Rev. John Edwards, who was vicar for fifty-three years,
and died in 1834 aged eighty-three. This list was very different from
that we had seen at Hungerford, and we wondered whether a parallel for
longevity in three successive vicars existed in all England, for they
averaged fifty-one years' service.
[Illustration: PARLIAMENT COTTAGES.]
There were some rather large thatched cottages in Berry Pomeroy village,
where Seymour, who was one of the first men of rank and fortune to join
the Prince of Orange, met the future King after he had landed at
Brixham on November 5th, 1688. A conference was held in these cottages,
which were ever afterwards known as "Parliament Buildings," that meeting
forming William's first Parliament. Seymour was at that time M.P. for
Exeter, and was also acting as Governor of that city. When William
arrived there four days afterwards, with an army of 15,000 men, he was
awarded a very hearty reception, for he was looked upon as more of a
deliverer than a conqueror.
It was only a short distance from Berry Pomeroy to Totnes, our next
stage, and we were now to form our first acquaintance with the lovely
valley of the River Dart, which we reached at the foot of the hill on
which that picturesque and quaint old town was situated.
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