Number 1019 in a series of caches where a red telephone box is in close proximity to a post box.
The only rules are that they have to be able to be photographed together, be not more than 100' apart and the phone boxes have to be red.
A Fine Pair # 1019 - Doccombe
How's that for proximity!?
A 'fun' fact about Doccombe to entertain you whilst you're there.
The charming village of Doccombe is almost never known for its connection with the murder of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1170. But a connection there be! The story goes thusly:
Becket was chancellor to King Henry II when the then Archbishop died. Henry seeking influence within the church made Becket Archbishop. To do this Becket, not a man of the cloth, was quickly invested as a Priest. The next day ordained a Bishop and then that afternoon made Archbishop. (Politics was easy back then.) This arrangement was beneficial for several years, but the two came to blows when Becket excommunicated the Bishops of London and Salisbury for their support of the king, not the church. King Henry, on hearing this news was reported to have exclaimed, "Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?" (a line parodied in Blackadder)
This outburst seems to have inspired four knights to commit murder as a way to gain favour with the king. (As you do.) The knights found Becket kneeling at an altar, drew their swords and hacked him to death. One of the knights who committed the murder was William de Tracey, who owned a substantial amount of land in Devon and gave his name to the nearby town of Bovey Tracey.
The king was not, as the knights assumed, best pleased with this wanton murder of a man of the cloth, and all four of them fell into disgrace. (A most severe punishment indeed.) William de Tracey died, in 1174, but before his death, in atonement for his part in the murder, granted the manor of Doccombe to Canterbury Cathedral, 'for the love of God, and the salvation of his soul and the souls of his ancestors, and for the love of the blessed Thomas Archbishop and martyr; the income to be used for the clothing and support of a monk to celebrate the masses for the souls living or dead'.
Now the village is home to 'a fine pair'. Things are looking up...
If anyone has a more interesting fact about this place please post in your log. I might even add it to the page!
Though please be careful of the road!
The Fine Pair series was originally started by wizardsmum but is now managed by mattd2k
If anybody would like to place 'A Fine Pair' of their own please do. I would just ask that you first visit www.afinepair.co.uk to request a number to avoid any duplication
mattd2k also keeps a public Bookmark List of this series. Once your cache is published please contact him via geocachingafinepair@gmail.com to have yours added
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