THE CONGREGATION THAT WOULDN`T CONGREGATE

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Deep in the windswept hinterland of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall lies the remote, tiny village of Warleggan. Off the tourist route, with no apparent reason for anyone to go there, it holds a remarkable, true story of recent times.

The church, pictured above, is dedicated to St Bartholomew. The church was one of the few on Bodmin Moor to have a spire, until in 1818 when it was struck by lightning.

Until a road was built in 1953 linking it to the A38, it had the reputation of being one of the most remote areas of Cornwall.
The priest from 1931 until his death in 1953 was Frederick Densham. Frederick, to say the least, was an eccentric: painting the church and vicarage in garish colours of yellow and blue and surrounding the church and the rectory with a barbed wire fence. He also kept dogs and would persist in letting them out to run wild on the moor, where the local farmers` sheep were grazing.

All his parishioners eventually shunned the church and the poor vicar was reduced to preaching his sermons to "cut out cardboard figures" propped up in the pews. In 1953, many years after he had preached to his last “live” congregation, Rev Densham’s body was found in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs at the rectory. It had laid there for over a week....and no-one had missed him. For more on this curious tale, see http://www.kernoweb.myby.co.uk/spiritsofcornwall/houses03.htm

A book by Daphne du Maurier was based on this story.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, dear reader, is to find out which book that was. Answers via the `comments` link below, please.