The Thomas Gilbart-Smith Memorial is situated on the side of the busy A3052 road between Exeter and Lyme Regis. It's not all that far from the crossroads known as Hangman's Stone, and many people think that this was the actual stone. However, this is a stone seat that was erected in 1904 as a memorial to Dr Thomas Gilbart-Smith by his friends and family. On a cycling holiday in Devon with one of his sons, he suffered a heart attack and died at this spot.
The original plaques were stolen and unfortunately the replacements hold the wrong information. His name is wrongly spelt Gilbert, instead of Gilbart, and he was one of the two senior physicians at the London Hospital, along with several other important medical posts.
Having a walk to look at some places along this route in 2008, and wandering a lot further than expected, it turned out to be a 10 mile hike taking in several abandoned and derelict explores on the way. It was a good opportunity to see this properly for myself as the road can be very busy at certain times, and whilst travelling in car or bus it isn't so easy to see it other than a quick glance when speeding past. It was also nice to sit down, have a ciggy and enjoy some of the flask of coffee that I'd taken with me.
Dr Gilbart-Smith may not have approved of smoking as he was also a specialist physician for diseases of the chest, although I have a feeling that the good doctor would have approved of a good walk and using his memorial seat to enjoy a rest along the way.
Thank you for yhi
ReplyDeleteThank you for this article. I past this memorial a number of times this week whilst on holiday and wondered what it was. Very informative site in general. Wished I had discovered it before visiting some of the places covered.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. It's much appreciated and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully you'll be able to come back again to visit. Cheers, Eileen :)
ReplyDeleteEileen. Thank you for the information. Often passed the memorial and stopped today to find out it’s origin and purpose. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome, David, and thank you for your comments. It's great to stop and look at these odd things sometimes isn't it. Cheers, Eileen.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to put this out.
ReplyDeleteIt's very much my pleasure. Cheers, Eileen :)
DeleteI have driven past this spot for many years and finally stopped there today after a walk from Beer to Branscombe and back. Such a wonderful memorial from his family.
ReplyDeleteIt's fabulous isn't it. Glad you had the opportunity to walk there. :)
DeleteI'm sorry my reply came out as anonymous, Danek. Everytime I try to reply it comes out differently. I've no idea what's going on, lol.
DeleteAs above.
ReplyDelete