# Bettiscombe > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bettiscombe > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bettiscombe.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bettiscombe > Source revision: 1332524057 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Village and civil parish in Dorset, England Human settlement in England Bettiscombe Parish church of St Stephen Bettiscombe Location within Dorset Population 50 [1] OS grid reference ST395005 Unitary authority Dorset Ceremonial county Dorset Region South West Country England Sovereign state United Kingdom Post town Bridport Postcode district DT6 Police Dorset Fire Dorset and Wiltshire Ambulance South Western UK Parliament West Dorset List of places UK England Dorset 50°47′46″N 2°51′18″W / 50.7962°N 2.8549°W / 50.7962; -2.8549 Bettiscombe viewed from the north (church visible in middle distance, on left) **Bettiscombe** is a small village and [civil parish](/source/Civil_parishes_in_England) in west [Dorset](/source/Dorset), England, situated in the [Marshwood Vale](/source/Marshwood_Vale) four miles (6.4 km) west of [Beaminster](/source/Beaminster). [Dorset County Council](/source/Dorset_County_Council)'s 2013 mid-year estimate of the population of the civil parish is 50.[1] ## History The parish church, dedicated to St Stephen, has two windows in the [chancel](/source/Chancel) and possibly one in the west tower dating from about 1400, although the rest of the structure was rebuilt by John Hicks in 1862.[2] ## Skull legend Bettiscombe Manor, a [manor house](/source/Manor_house) in the village, is known as "The House of the [screaming skull](/source/Screaming_skull)" due to a legend dating from the 19th century. The Bettiscome Manor skulls inspired the 1908 short story "[The Screaming Skull](/source/The_Screaming_Skull_(short_story))" by [Francis Marion Crawford](/source/Francis_Marion_Crawford). Other [ghost](/source/Ghost) stories are also associated with the manor. The legend maintains that the skull is that of a Jamaican slave belonging to John Frederick Pinney. Azariah Pinney's descendants disposed of their [Nevis](/source/Nevis) estates and returned to the family home of Bettiscombe Manor in 1830, accompanied by one of the family's black slaves.[3] While in his master's service, the servant was taken seriously ill with suspected tuberculosis. As he lay dying, the servant swore that he would never rest unless his body was returned to his homeland of Nevis, but when he died, John Frederick Pinney refused to pay for such an expensive burial and instead had the body interred in the grounds of St. Stephen's Church cemetery. After the burial, ill fortune plagued the village for many months and screams and crying were heard coming from the cemetery. Other disturbances were reported from the manor house, such as windows rattling and doors slamming of their own accord. The villagers went to the manor to seek advice. The body of the servant was exhumed and the body taken to the manor house. In the process of time the skeleton has long since vanished, except for the skull. In 1963 a professor of human and comparative anatomy at the [Royal College of Surgeons](/source/Royal_College_of_Surgeons) stated that the skull was not that of a black man but that of a European female aged between twenty-five and thirty.[4] ## See also - [Burton Agnes Hall](/source/Burton_Agnes_Hall) - [Chilton Cantelo](/source/Chilton_Cantelo) - [Screaming skull](/source/Screaming_skull) ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-dcc_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-dcc_1-1) ["Parish Population Data"](https://web.archive.org/web/20151121135528/https://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882). Dorset County Council. 20 January 2015. Archived from [the original](https://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882) on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["'Bettiscombe', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1, West (London, 1952), pp. 28–29"](http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol1/pp28-29). *British History Online*. University of London. Retrieved 11 May 2015. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Vincent_3-0)** Hubbard, Vincent (2002). *Swords, Ships & Sugar*. Premiere Editions International. pp. 170–172. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781891519055](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781891519055). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Roland Gant (1980). *Dorset Villages*. Robert Hale Ltd. p. 111. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7091-8135-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7091-8135-3). ## External links - [The Legend of the Screaming Skull](https://web.archive.org/web/20140517115025/http://www.castleofspirits.com/screamingskull.html) - [St Stephen's Church Bettiscombe](http://www.goldencapteamofchurches.org.uk/bettiscombe.html) This Dorset location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Dorset-geo-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3ADorset-geo-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Dorset-geo-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bettiscombe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bettiscombe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bettiscombe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.