St Nicholas Church Godstone burial place of pirate smuggler John Edward Trenchman ambushed and killed by customs officers 1687

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St Nicholas Church Godstone burial place of Pirate and Smuggler John Edward Trenchman ambushed and killed by customs officers in Godstone, Surrey in 1687 and burial place (sarsen stone) of "Walker Miles" Edmund Seyfang Taylor founder of the Ramblers movement. After pillaging the Spanish colonies Trenchman returned home to smuggle along the south east coast of England, bringing horses and contraband from the south coast to Croydon. Travelling through Walchnestead - the former name of Godstone - Trenchman and his men were ambushed by cusrtoms officers near to Tilburstow Hill and killed. Trenchman and his men are buried in Godstone St Nicholas Church and their graves are marked by skulls and crossbones. St Nicholas Church was built on the 13th century, but later restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott

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Size: 3189px × 4784px
Location: Godstone, Surrey, England, Europe
Photo credit: © Lindsay Constable / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1687, ambush, church, clock, clockface, conductor, customs, edmund, edward, face, folklore, godstone, heavens, john, lightning, miles, nicholas, pirate, ramblers, rambling, sarsen, seyfang, smuggler, spire, st, stone, surrey, taylor, trenchman, walchnestead, walker