| About Ottery |
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Ottery St Mary is located in East Devon, on the River Otter. The town is located about 10 miles from the city of Exeter, and 8 miles from Sidmouth. The town was the birthplace of the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, where his father, the Reverend John Coleridge, was a well respected vicar. The noted diplomat Sir Ernest Satow spent his retirement (1906–29) here at a house called Beaumont, which still stands. Satow was buried in the churchyard; there is a commemorative plaque to him in the church. Ottery St Mary is well known around the world for the tradition of the Tar Barrels which take place on every Bonfire Night (5th November) This consists of barrels which have been steeped in tar for several weeks being lit and carried around the streets until they disintegrate. These barrels are of differing sizes and there are Boys, Girls, Women's and Men's barrells throughout the day. Three times during the day 'rock cannons' are set off, devices that could be described as casual firearms, improvised from steel bars drilled with a short hole and filled with gunpowder which is ignited by means of a percussion cap and a hammer. The bar is bent to provide a handle at about 90 degrees from the muzzle, and a flat topped 'hammer' held in the free hand brought down on the firing hole in the top, setting off the cap and the carefully rammed gunpowder.
Sources : Wikipedia, British Folk Customs & the website author |
