Under the date of February, 1645, there is this entry in the Register of Burials:—
There have bin buried the 16th 17th 18th 19th and 20th 21st dayes 63 soldyers;
and other entries appear in July and August of the same year of interments of soldiers.
In the Journal of the House of Lords (Vol. x., 318) is the following entry respecting the re-building of the Church:—
10 June 1648 Ordered, By the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament, That a Grant be prepared, and that the Commissioners of the Great Seal be hereby authorized and required to pass the same under the Great Seal, to the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council, of the Town of Greate Torrington, in the County of Devon, for a General Collection of the Charity of well-disposed People, through all the Counties of England and Dominion of Wales for Reparation of the Great Church of the said Town, which was utterly demolished by the Enemies Firing thereof with their Magazine of Powder, to the Value of Six Thousand Pounds at least; which the Inhabitants, by reason of the Miseries of the late War, and Ruin of the said Town, are no Way able to repair.
The only external part of the Church which appears to have escaped is the vestry, though a few of the piers and arches at the east end seem to be in their original condition, and perhaps also the arch of the north transept.
George M. Doe.
HERRICK AND DEAN PRIOR.
By F. H. Colson, M.A.
The little village of Dean Prior, five miles from Brent on the high road from Plymouth to Ashburton, is indissolubly associated with the name of one of the greatest of our lyric poets; a poet, indeed, who has a certain touch and power which is quite unique in English poetry. Robert Herrick was vicar of this parish for about thirty-two years. The main facts of his life may be very shortly told. Born in London in 1591, he was educated at St. John’s College and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He spent the earlier part of his life, after taking his degree, probably partly in Cambridge and partly in London. It was not till 1629, when he was thirty-eight years old, that he was ordained and presented to Dean Prior. Here he remained till 1648, when he was ejected, and a certain John Syms, a Puritan of some fame and worth, established in his place. Herrick went to London and there published his two books of verse, Hesperides and Noble Numbers. In 1662 he was sent back to his living, and there spent the remainder of his days. He died and was buried in the churchyard of Dean Prior in 1674.