A FAMILY descended from George Routleigh, who wrote the celebrated Watchmaker's Epitaph in St Petroc's Church, Lydford, returned to the village last weekend to witness the rededication of the watchmaker's tombstone which has been restored to mark the two-hundredth anniversary of his death.
The restoration work was necessary to allow visitors to enjoy the clever epitaph inscribed on the slate top-slab of watchmaker George Routleigh's tomb, which had badly deteriorated.
The restored slab has been wall-mounted inside the Church, it was previously sited outside the church's south porch where it had become badly weathered.
George Routleigh worked as a watchmaker in Launceston but moved to Lydford where his brother Edward was a church warden. He died aged 57 in 1802. He is believed to have had a daughter Mary, who married Thomas Taverner in 1799, and whose descendants have now been traced.
One member of the Taverner family flew into the UK all the way from New York to attend the rededication service and the harvest festival in Lydford last Sunday, (September 22).
Roger and Brenda Taverner and their son Stephen came to Lydford to join the harvest festival. Stephen made a vital contribution towards the restoration of the inscribed slate top by donating £1,000 to the appeal fund last year. Stephen, who manages the rock group Ash, flew in from New York to visit the village, which he remembered from childhood visits.
The rededication was conducted by the Rev Gil Still who welcomed the Taverner family and thanked them for their help in ensuring the tombstone no longer suffers the damage of Dartmoor weather.
Barbara Weeks, Lydford's church warden said the day had been a special occasion for Lydford. 'We had old friends who came especially for the harvest festival and around 65 people sat down for a very nice harvest lunch in Nichols Hall,' she said.
The epitaph on the watchmakers tombstone is a fascinating and witty one, equating his profession with his life.
George Routleigh is believed to have written the epitaph at least five years before his death, the poem appeared in an American publication, Banneker's Almanac, under a pseudonym — Peter Pendulum, in 1797.
Mrs Weeks said she would be interested to hear from anyone who could help piece together more information about the watchmaker's life.
Mrs Weeks said Lydford parochial church council would be very interested to know whether there are any other descendants of George Routleigh still alive today and also whether any of his clocks still exist in addition to the one and only known example, a grandfather clock belonging to a Tavistock family.