On September 16th 1872, a 26 year old farm labourer called James Stentiford, came with a local girl, Lucy Andrews, to be married in this ancient Church. 

From the seat in the hilly graveyard outside the main door, there is an uninterrupted view across miles of open country to the craggy Tors of northern Dartmoor and in the winter, this is an exposed and windy place.  

James was one of the sons of Philip Stentiford and Sarah Moore of Sandford. He stayed in the Morchard Bishop area for the remainder of his long life, dying on October 15th 1925 at the age of 79. 

Lucy, who married by consent when she was 20,  outlived her husband by just a few weeks, dying on December 23rd 1925 at the age of 73. Also commemorated in the inscription is their daughter Emma who tragically died at the age of 18.

Even by Victorian standards, James and Lucy had a large family.