The Toplady Trail; A visit to Broadhembury, Devon; 13 July 2011.
A few months ago I heard someone mention that Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-78) ministered at Blagdon in Somerset. I think the speaker had Blagdon near Taunton in mind which is the wrong Blagdon because Toplady from 1762 to 1764 was a curate at Blagdon in north Somerset. The legend is that while taking a walk in Burrington Coombe not far a away he was caught in a storm and took shelter in a cleft in the rocks and jotted down the famous hymn, ‘Rock of Ages’. That may be how the hymn began though scholars debate its historicity. It seems that Charles Wesley had written something similar in 1759 and Toplady certainly had the idea at the time because he used the expression ‘Rock of Ages’ in his farewell sermon at Blagdon in 1764. However, he didn’t actually publish the hymn until 1776 when he was well established at Broadhembury in Devon and had published many other hymns. That may not be relevant because we know he delayed publishing other things that he had written. It was, and is, a wonderful hymn.
The fact that he had been vicar of Broadhembury for most of his ministry prompted us to go there on 13 July for it is only about 15 miles from where we live. We turned off the main road from Cullompton to Honiton and after a mile along a very narrow lane crossed the 15th century bridge and went up a wide street with many thatched cottages. Broadhembury is a very picturesque village. All those thatched houses must help to keep thatchers in business as well as preserving the charm of this village. We were puzzled that there were so many cars around the centre of the village but managed to park near the delightful tea room www.broadhemburytearoom.co.uk/ which is part of the Post Office cum village shop. We enjoyed cake and hot chocolate at very reasonable prices and then headed for the church. With all the parked cars we wondered whether there was a funeral but no it was the sports day in the school field just beyond the church and families had come to support the children.
St Andrew’s Church dates from at least 1259 but most of it is from the 15th century. The tower has 6 bells and is about 100 feet high. There is a 15C font and many memorials to members of the Drewe family who were prominent in the village for about 300 years. In 1903 the unrelated Julius Drewe bought most of the village. He made his fortune by founding the Home and Colonial stores and built Castle Drogo which is about 15 miles west of Exeter near Drewsteignton and also has a Drewe Arms.
Toplady was at Broadhembury for 10 years though ill health forced his eventual withdrawal and death in 1778. Sheldon, a few miles away was part of his parish and he would walk there on a Sunday morning and return for later services at Broadhembury. He did not like horse riding which he thought was dangerous. He was a brilliant scholar, speaker and hymn writer and usually courteous and polite. Unfortunately he rather lost his cool in the controversy with John Wesley and his followers over the issue of predestination. Toplady believed in predestination and other Calvinistic teaching and Wesley and others opposed him and the exchanges became vitriolic and did not reflect credit on any of the parties concerned. Toplady had a ‘vocabulary-exhausting’ gift for words which was employed to the full in this controversy. Strangely, when he met Thomas Olivers one of Wesley’s staunchest supporters, the discussion was cordial and friendly but when went back to print the bitter invective returned. That was all very unfortunate and I think it best to remember him as the writer of ‘Rock of Ages’ and ‘A debtor to mercy alone’ or these lines:
Happiness, thou lovely name,
Where’s thy seat, O tell me, where?
Learning, pleasure, wealth and fame,
All cry out, “It is not here:”
Not the wisdom of the wise
Can inform me where it lies,
Not the grandeur of the great
Can the bliss I seek create.
Object of my first desire,
Jesus, crucified for me!
All to happiness aspire,
Only to be found in thee:
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On Toplady:
Wright, Thomas, The Lives of the British Hymn Writers, Volume II, Augustus M. Toplady and contemporary hymn-writers, London: Farncombe & Son, 1911.
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