ALL Saints Church and the White Hart Hotel were blessed with a visit from a former Archbishop of Canterbury last weekend.

Accompanied by his wife Lady Eileen Carey, Lord George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002 was at a special reception at the White Hart on Saturday night.

The following day, Lord Carey preached at the 11am service at All Saints, before joining parishioners for an afternoon cream tea, and preaching again in the evening.

The visit came about after the Rector of Okehampton, the Rev Stephen Cook, invited Lord and Lady Carey to visit Devon — Lord Carey was Mr Cook's principal at theological college, and the pair have built a long-lasting friendship.

Lord Carey enjoyed his visit to the town: 'The weekend that Eileen and I spent in Okehampton was lovely.

'The first event we went to was the reception at the White Hart Hotel, and we had many interesting questions from those in attendance.

'We had a long and interesting discussion covering the importance of marriage.

'Preaching the next morning was very good. I was very impressed with the lively congregation at All Saints, and the church is clearly doing good things.

'It was also great to see Rev Cook again, as we have been very good friends for a number of years. I was delighted with the visit.'

Mr Cook was also pleased with the visit: 'It was a lovely weekend where everything went really well. We are extremely grateful to Lord and Lady Carey for taking the time to visit Okehampton and preach at All Saints.'

Lord Carey was born in 1935 in London's East End. Leaving school at 15, he began working at the London Electricity Board as an office boy, and also served with the RAF in Iraq during the 1950s.

By the age of 20, he had decided he wanted to be ordained as a minister in the Church of England.

After graduating from London College of Divinity and King's College London he served as a curate in Islington.

He then taught at two colleges before becoming a parish priest at St Nicholas' Durham. In 1982 he became Principal of Trinity Theological College in Bristol and, in 1987, Bishop of Bath and Wells.

In 1991 he was invited to take up the post of 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury and served 70 million Anglicans around the world until his retirement in 2002.

He was the first modern holder of the office not to have attended Oxford or Cambridge University, and during his time as archbishop the Church of England ordained its first women priests.

RIGHT: Lord and Lady Carey with the Rev Stephen Cook (right).

Picture by James Bird