Cabell Chest Tomb And Structure Over Tomb To South Of Church Of Holy Trinity

The chest tomb and structure over tomb, situated just south of the porch of the Church of Holy Trinity, commemorates Richard and Susanna Cabell (died 1612 and 1597 respectively) and their son, Richard, who died in 1655. Local folklore, documented by Baring-Gould, portrays it as the tomb of a particularly wicked Richard Cabell, believed to have died in 1677, and recounts a legend that inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles. The site was known locally as 'The Sepulchre' by 1932.

The structure is a small rectangular building with a hipped slate roof, likely re-roofed in the Edwardian period, although it was mentioned in 1879. The exterior is cement-rendered, built on a projecting stone plinth which serves as a seat. Chamfered granite corner posts rise from the plinth, and the roof has very deep coved eaves with plastered coving. A locked plank door is on the south side, and a Victorian or Edwardian cast-iron grille, with ornamental standards, is on the north side, allowing a view into the tomb. The chest tomb itself is damaged, featuring a rubble chest with an oversailing chamfered freestone lid. A partially legible inscription, carved in Roman lettering, appears on the chamfer, with the letter "RICU" visible on the lid’s southern edge.

The tomb and structure are considered to be among the two earliest mausolea in England, the other being at Maulden in Bedfordshire. A weathervane dated 1656 once stood on top of the building. Susan Cabell Djabri has written a monograph exploring the origin and evolution of the myth surrounding the tomb, proposing that the third Richard Cabell erected the tomb for his father and grandparents.