Note 36 — MILTON ABBEY

The loneliness of Holworth has also been remarked upon by Thomas Hardy in his smuggling story, “The Distracted Preacher” (Wessex Tales). Such a lonely spot, with its under-cliff sheltered by “White Nose”—the great white promontory jutting like an enormous Wellington nose into the sea—naturally attracted smugglers, who, as tradition says, hid their goods in the tower of the neighbouring parish church of Owermoigne. In this church there is an interesting inscription recording the will of “Adam Jones of Holworth, in the parish of Abbotsmilton” (sic), 1653.